


Mysteries Beyond The Fog

by The_Distorted_Shadow



Category: Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms, Persona 4
Genre: Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Crossover, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-07
Updated: 2018-05-12
Packaged: 2019-05-03 07:49:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 25,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14564379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Distorted_Shadow/pseuds/The_Distorted_Shadow
Summary: Rin had hoped finding Shirou's family would give him something fragile to live for, a reason to think about himself. She never expected it to lead to a year of fighting in a complex bounded field contained within TV's of all things... or of a group of nosy teens being exposed to magecraft and gaining a power she had never even heard of before. Why couldn't life ever be simple?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone.  
> For those who haven't read my profile, this is actually something that has already been posted on Fanfiction.net for a while now.  
> And I just decided to post my things here as well.  
> Also, just to be clear, I put the rating as Mature just to be on the safe side more than anything else, so it might not be explicit enough for the rating, but I feel more comfortable with it anyway.  
> But anyway... I suppose I should just shut up and let you get on with the story.

Tohsaka Rin couldn't stop a frown from marring her face as she watched a certain red head with a pair of very familiar swords sparring with a familiar petite blonde, something they always did whenever Fujimura-sensei was busy.

Today she had a faculty meeting at their school and to make matters even simpler, Sakura was still busy taking care of Shinji… she would admit that she was confused at how different he had become after being turned into a false grail… then again being put down by his own servant would be rather humbling for the powerless boy.

It had been over a month since the end of the Fifth Grail War, the destruction of the Holy Grail and Shirou's defeat of Gilgamesh but despite everything that they had gone through, she had found herself hitting a brick wall… she just couldn't figure out a way to get Shirou to care about himself.

And if there was one thing Rin hated, it was not being able to figure something out… well, that and Shirou's self-sacrificing tendencies, and given how those two things were currently working in tandem… well, she was not even remotely happy.

She let out a sigh as she watched him continue training with Kanshou and Byakuya, taking extra note of the speed of his swings and how easily he was now keeping up with Saber, silently marvelling at the sheer power of his Reality Marble, because she knew that despite his swings surpassing human ability, he wasn't using any reinforcement magecraft at all.

It had been about a week after the end of the Grail War that she had asked him about his fight with Gilgamesh and how he had managed to counter the servant, she had expected him to mention using a rain of swords to overwhelm the Golden King but he had instead told her about how he stopped each of his weapons with a broken copy while clashing blades with the arrogant legend.

She had simply found herself staring at him as if he had grown another head.

Even with mysteries greater than simple reinforcement, a human could rarely reach levels of ten times greater than human limits, which was E-rank on the Servant ranking scale and Gilgamesh had possessed B-rank strength, which equated to forty times greater than human limits… so how could Shirou have possibly stood up to that?

It hadn't taken long for her to figure out how it was possible.

When he finally had a breakthrough on exactly what he was doing wrong with his projections, he had caused them to undergo a massive boost in usefulness.  While before he was taking the blueprints and projecting a copy of them onto the world like any normal magus technically could (albeit, at a much greater prana cost than for him), once he had figured out the truth of his magecraft, he stopped using an advanced form of projection and turned it into its own method.

After all, he was now simply pulling premade swords out of his marble and into the real world, their forms were more stable, their power was closer to the original and most importantly, their history was manifested alongside the weapons.

Including the force with which they were swung.

Once that had been explained, Saber had tested his ability by having him trace Berserkers… chunk of rock was the best word she could come up with to describe the weapon and according to the legendary King, Shirou possessed B \+ Rank strength when wielding the weapon, a one rank degradation on Berserkers strength certainly… but it was still nearly twice as strong as Saber.

It was no wonder Apostles spent centuries developing them if they were capable of feats like that.

For such an anomaly to exist was beyond comprehension, then again, that was exactly what a Reality Marble was, a perception of reality so different and so strong that the user operates under a fundamentally different common sense, which in turn means that their magecraft follows completely different rules to everyone else.

That fact made her attempts at teaching him conventional magecraft incredibly difficult.

It certainly didn't help that he had a non standard element that matched his origin… 'Sword'.

To think, she had entered a ménage à trois with a person that was probably closer to being a sword than a chunk of iron.

It was no wonder he was so dense.

But that didn't stop her from acknowledging the fact that finding a way to make Shirou stop and think instead of risking his life at every inopportune moment, honestly the main problem she could think of that would make that harder was simple… neither she nor Saber were particularly weak, she was a first class magus and Saber was a Servant, neither of those were in particular need of saving unless they were facing a dead apostle and even then, she could take on a weaker apostle and Saber could probably match an Ancestor for a while.

So they were both on the higher end of the power spectrum, especially outside of a Grail War.

So neither of them really needed much protection, which would clearly let Shirou disregard their need for him, she knew that was how he thought, if someone needs protecting then they need him, if they don’t then they don't.

Then while Fujimura-sensei wasn't exactly near the powerhouse end of the spectrum, she wasn't exactly a weak little civilian in need of protecting and her grandfather ran a Yakuza group so she wasn't exactly defenceless if things went south.

Sakura didn't really qualify either, despite her closeness to him, she was someone he was comfortable leaving alone for a while… and if he knew the truth behind her he would probably destroy the Matou household so keeping her at a distance was probably a good thing.

So was there anyone that she could use to give him something to make him hesitate in throwing away his life?

Honestly she couldn't think of anyone that could fit the bill.

Even if she decided to have a child, he would probably just consider it safe in her and Saber's hands and go and risk his life anyway.

It was just so frustrating!

And it wasn't like he even had any family left alive…

She stopped her thoughts there.

Sure she knew that his parents died in the Fuyuki fire and Kiritsugu died a few years later but did he really have no surviving blood relatives?

She didn't have any herself, well, outside of her sister who she wasn't allowed to have much interaction with due to a certain agreement her father made before he died, but that didn't mean that Emiya didn't have any aunts or uncles, hell he might even have grandparents and if she could find anyone that fit the bill…

Then maybe he might start considering his own life for a change.

"Shirou, Saber, I've got something I need to do," she called out to the sparring duo, noting that the red head was breathing heavily… even if he could copy a servants strength, it didn’t necessarily mean his body could handle it without consequence, though the consequences didn't seem to last long at all.

"Will you be back in time for dinner?" the petite blond that used to rule a country asked with her ever stoic façade firmly in place.

"I think so," she admitted, it wasn't like she was going to be doing much more than going to another house on the street.

After all, if anyone could help her with what she was planning, then it would be Fujimura Raiga.

 

XXX XXX XXX

 

Raiga was an old man, that much was for certain.

But old did not necessarily mean weak.

Honestly she had never seen a man as old as him look so healthy and strong, so she had ended up feeling a little intimidated… though she had quickly squashed such feelings, she had faced berserker, been betrayed by Archer, nearly killed by her own teacher, faced down the King of Heroes and nearly been devoured by a corrupted Holy Grail… meeting an old Yakuza boss was not going to match those experiences.

And she was thankful she had squashed that small feeling because as soon as she had explained herself to him, he became more than willing to help her.

Apparently he had a soft spot for her boyfriend that nearly matched his soft spot for his granddaughter.

It was the first thing he asked for that made her blink a little in surprise, a piece of Shirou… literally.

Whether it be saliva, hairs, skin or blood, as long as it came from his body it should be acceptable.

Thankfully Shirou tended to shed a bit of blood in most of his spars with Saber… especially when they were using bokutō instead of blades because without the projected strength, speed and skills of the original wielders, he was no match for the rightful king of England.

And she hit hard enough to break skin.

Of course, even when they were using noble phantasm's instead of bokutō, Shirou usually ended up bleeding  at least a little and she almost always cleaned up the injuries… she supposed it was a habit that carried on from the Grail War but it would work perfectly for what she needed.

After all, according to Raiga, if any of his family have DNA records stored anywhere, then they should be capable of making a match.

Though the chances of such a thing happening was slim at best, DNA wasn't exactly kept on file for many people.

And knowing Shirou's luck, it was unlikely anything of use could be gleamed from his DNA, after all, he did have pretty bad luck in everything outside of romance and surviving fatal injuries.

Though she did have to admit, his luck in romance came mainly from the fact that he had two girlfriends who both understood him... something no normal person would be capable of doing given the simple fact that he possessed a Reality Marble.

So she cleared her head of those thoughts before returning to the Emiya house's Dojo, it had taken a bit of convincing but she had managed to convince Fujimura-sensei to allow both her and Saber to stay at his house indefinitely without the help of hypnosis.

Looking to the centre, she had to withhold a smirk at seeing the red head laying on the ground with his shirt off while Saber attempted to fix his injuries… it wouldn't have been something worth smirking over but she had eventually discovered that Saber wasn't particularly good at first aid.

Or rather, she was absolutely hopeless at it.

It was amazing just how complacent having a noble phantasm capable of healing any wound in record time had made her when dealing with injuries.

"Ah, Tohsaka!" the distorted teen called out to her, making Saber turn to look at her with an almost pleading look in her eyes, obviously she didn't like the idea of screwing up Shirou's treatment and given how she already had a need to treat his injuries in order to get what Raiga needed, she decided to assist her Servant.

The young magus didn't really focus on what she was saying to the red head, instead she was more concerned about keeping a sample of blood without either Shirou or Saber noticing, sure she may be capable of convincing Saber to accept her decision but if Shirou ever found out, he would probably complain about it and try and get her to stop her attempts at finding out if he had any living relatives… probably because he wouldn't want to inconvenience them as opposed to anything else.

It was just the sort of person he was after all, everyone else came before he did in his own mind.

By the end of his treatment, she had what she needed and hopefully, it would be enough for Raiga to test… at least then they'd have a way of making sure he actually was related to anyone if they ever found someone that fit the bill.

 

XXX XXX XXX

 

It was about three weeks later, when she was finally about to give up hope due to not receiving any news from the old Yakuza that she received the call, thankfully while Shirou was out shopping for groceries.

"Hello, Emiya residence, this is Tohsaka speaking," it had become her automatic response to picking up the phone while living at Shirou's home, not that he received many phone calls but he did occasionally get them and if she was closer (which was normally the case) then she would answer it in his stead.

 _"Ah, Tohsaka-san, this is Fujimura Raiga… we've got a match,"_ his words rang through her head and she felt her heart skip a beat at the fact that he said it with such conviction, _"I have already performed a full investigation to determine the veracity of the tests and all the background checks out… Emiya Shirou has a living blood relative."_

"Just one?" she asked, she needed to know as much as possible about the situation.

 _"That is correct,"_ the old man had clearly put enough effort into his investigation to give at least a reasonable quantity of information, _"his younger cousin, Dojima Nanako, currently six years old and living with her father in a small town called Inaba."_

"What happened to her mother?" her question was obvious, if she lived with her father and the man wasn't related to Shirou by blood, then it was obvious that the girl's mother would be the boy's aunt… which begged the question of what happened to her.

 _"She was killed in a hit and run two years ago, that is why her DNA was on record,"_ the old Yakuza responded calmly, _"I know it isn't much but at least it's something."_

"No, this is perfect," the dark haired Magus admitted calmly, earning a grunt of surprise over the phone, "after all, if Shirou can get close to such a young girl then he might start thinking twice about throwing himself under a bus to save a complete stranger."

She didn't tell the man anything about what was actually more likely to kill the teen… namely Dead Apostles, maybe the odd demon and sealing Designate but she could at least get the point across.

 _"Are you telling me, that you plan on blackmailing him into taking better care of himself?"_ she could hear the incredulousness in the man's tone but then again, it wasn't everyday you hear someone talking about blackmailing their boyfriend in such a way.

"Well, let's be honest here… do you really think anything else would work?" her question was asked in a mocking tone, one that a person normally wouldn't risk taking with the head of a Yakuza… and the man laughed.

 _"Too true, it seems that you do actually understand Shirou and aren't just taking advantage of him,"_ the statement combined with the laughter was enough to make the Magus's eye twitch and a vein bulge on her forehead but if she was honest with herself, she couldn't really fault the man for his previous misconception… plus, she was more than happy to take advantage of the red head, just not when the result was hazardous to his continued survival.

"So, can you contact this girls father and," she started to ask only to be cut off sharply.

 _"No,"_ it was such a firm and sudden denial that she barely had time to register it but she soon found herself growing angry at his refusal… that is until he spoke next, _"I take it Shirou has already told you about my organisation given how you decided to come to me for this favour?"_ he asked her, earning a simple acknowledgement from the magus, _" well, her father is a Police Detective and famous in the area for his incorruptibility, if I contact the man then I may inadvertently cause problems for my organisation."_

She quickly calmed down at his explanation, despite obviously agreeing with her decision to hunt down any family Shirou may have had, he wouldn't do so at the risk of bringing the law down on his not so legal activities.

"In that case, do you at least have a telephone number I can contact them through?" just because the old man wouldn't be prepared to contact the detective directly didn't mean he wouldn't have contact details.

 _"I do, do you have a pen and paper at your disposal?"_ she almost smirked at the old man as she pulled out just what she needed.

"Of course I do," her tone was clearly amused and in response, the old man proceeded to give her the number of the family, "there is another thing, could I possibly be given the evidence?  I doubt a detective would accept a call from a random stranger without definitive proof that they weren't lying."

 _"Of course, feel free to pick it up whenever you have time,"_ she didn't bother hiding her smirk at that, she would get it as soon as she had finished her conversation with the Yakuza and then contact this Dojima person and explain the situation to him.

"Good, in that case I'll come and collect it now," the girl dressed in red stated calmly.

 _"In that case, I shall have one of my men ready to give it to you as soon as you arrive… and I hope you succeed in your endeavour,"_ his words of encouragement were enough to make the girl smile, it was certainly nice to know that she would have his support in her efforts even after his role was fulfilled.

 

XXX XXX XXX

 

Rin didn't have much difficulty hiding the evidence she had collected, Shirou was completely useless at bounded fields of course so hiding it under one was practically guaranteed to keep it out of his sight… she didn't want him to sabotage her plans due to finding out about them too early.

And thankfully, it only took till the next day to get the house to herself once again… well, Saber was in the Dojo but she supposed she would at least be capable of getting the blonde on board with what she was planning if she ever found out about it.

So she picked up the phone and dialled the number given to her by Raiga.

 _"Hello?"_ the voice was quiet and definitely young, making Rin anticipate exactly who it was that picked up the phone.

"Hello, is that Dojima Nanako?" she asked, earning a slight mumble off the other end of the phone.

 _"Who are you?"_ she could tell that there was a certain level of worry in her tone, then again, her father was a detective so he would probably have raised her to beware strange phone calls.

"My name is Tohsaka Rin, is your father home right now?" she asked, hoping that the little girl wouldn't hang up after her rather… stupid start to the conversation.

 _"No, he's not home,"_ the little girl admitted, making Rin let out a sigh of disappointment, even if Nanako was Shirou's only blood relative, she still needed to talk to the girl's father instead of talking to her directly.

"Then can you pass on a message for me?" earning a quiet 'yes' from the other end, she decided to pass on a simple message, "please tell him that Tohsaka Rin of Fuyuki City called to discuss something important with him, I can be contacted on this number," and with that she gave out the phone number for the Emiya household before hearing something on the other end of the phone.

_"Nanako I'm back!"_

_"Dad!  There's someone on the phone for you."_

_"Huh?  Who's calling at this time?  Hello? Dojima speaking, who is this?"_ a masculine voice spoke over the phone, making Rin smirk at the fact she wouldn't have to wait for him to call back or call back later herself.

"Dojima-san, my name is Tohsaka Rin and unfortunately I have something important to tell you… though I should explain the circumstances surrounding this matter otherwise you'll probably think this is a prank," she admitted into the phone, earning a grunt of annoyance from what was obviously a rather gruff man if his voice was anything to go by.

And so she explained the situation, making sure she didn't pass on Shirou's suicidal tendencies and the real reason she decided to look up if Shirou had any relatives, instead simply mentioning that she wanted him to have an actual biological family to meet and care for and that the reason she was going behind his back was because she _knew_ he would ruin it by not wanting to inconvenience anyone.  She also chose to simply refer to the Fujimura syndicate as 'private investigators' she 'hired' to hunt down everything about Shirou.

 _"Do you have any proof?"_ it was an expected question and she was more than happy to answer it truthfully.

"It's right in the house with me ready for mailing… would you be so kind as to give me your address so I can send it to you?" she decided to ask about it calmly, idly wondering if the man would give out his house address (which she already had thanks to Raiga's efforts) or his workplace (which she also had).

 _"Send it to the Inaba Police Department,"_ she wasn't surprised given how the package could be checked for traps there it was the logical choice on where to have it sent, _"I don't exactly have any reason to trust you right now."_

"Of course, hopefully we'll get to speak again soon Dojima-san," she was silently thankful that the conversation was nearing its end as she felt her bounded fields signalling her that Shirou was about to arrive back in the next minute or so.

 _"Maybe, good night,"_ and with that, the detective hung up, not that she was that bothered about it, she understood his reservations after all, so she just put the phone down and hid the number she had been given by Raiga just before Shirou entered through the front door.

"Tohsaka, I'm home," she knew it was just a formality he went through, the fact was that he knew about the bounded fields she had put up around the house, sure they were merely ones that detected when others entered a certain vicinity but given how quiet the road outside the house was, it didn't go off that often.

"Welcome back Emiya-kun," she gave him her best smile as he entered the door only to freeze upon seeing her.

"Tohsaka… what are you up to?" he asked her with a blank expression on his face, making her inwardly frown at the fact that he somehow realised she was doing something behind his back.

"What do you mean Emiya-kun?" she asked him sweetly, making him stare at her like she had grown another head.

"You're never this nice unless you're up to something, so what is it?" she found herself stalling at his explanation.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?!!!" she practically exploded, earning a nervous gulp from the red head as he took a small step back… he was about one answer away from getting hailed by Gandrs after all and he knew it.

"Y-you're just normally more focused on other things to pay me too much attention," he quickly tried to explain before he got pelted by the sickness curse, "so when you do I know you're planning something."

And for that answer, he spent the next day in bed with major sickness and a few holes that looked suspiciously like bullet wounds.

 

XXX XXX XXX

 

Dojima Ryotaro found himself frowning as he looked over the 'evidence' that this Tohsaka girl had mailed to him at the police station.

He tried to find as many holes in the gather information as possible but no matter how hard he looked, he couldn't find any… it was all fitting together nearly perfectly, certainly it wasn't completely guaranteed that Emiya Shirou was his long lost nephew but it was looking increasingly unlikely that he wasn't.

He supposed he should probably let his sister know as well, she'd probably like to know that his long lost nephew had turned up alive… and in a pretty serious relationship from what he could tell of the Tohsaka girl.

Honestly, it wasn't everyday someone hires a private investigator to hunt down any possible familial connections for someone they aren't at least heavily invested in.

So while his mind tried to avoid the idea, he couldn't stop himself from thinking that the probably already slept together if she was prepared to go that far for him… the fact that she acknowledged his flaws as well was an added bonus, it meant that she wasn't ignoring them or letting her hormones control her, which meant they were probably going to be at least reasonably stable as far as a couple went.

He had spent several days going over the files and given everything he had read through, he decided it was time to take the plunge and phone up this girl and see about talking to his long lost nephew.

The phone number the girl had supplied Nanako had been kept in his wallet since he had conversed with the young woman on the other end of the phone, he didn't want to lose it and given how paranoid he was about losing his wallet, he knew it was probably the safest place for him to put it.

And so he picked up the phone and dialled the number on the paper he had just retrieved before waiting for someone to answer the call.

 _"Hello, Emiya residence, this is Tohsaka speaking,"_ he heard the familiar voice call out over the phone, making his heart flutter nervously at the prospect of speaking with his nephew for the first time in over ten years.

"This is Dojima," he stated simply before saying what he needed to say, "I've read the files you sent… it is good enough for me to believe it, can I speak to Emiya?"

 _"Unfortunately Emiya-kun isn't back from school yet, though I can have him call you later,"_ he let out a sigh at that information.

"Do you know how long he'll be?" the detective felt that he needed to know what sort of time he could call up and catch the boy at home.

 _"He shouldn't be too long, he was just kept back to fix the generator after it failed,"_ now that made Dojima blink in surprise, it wasn't everyday such an excuse was given.

"What do you mean he was held back to fix the generator?" he couldn’t stop himself from asking with a raised eyebrow, earning a small laugh off the girl on the other end.

 _"He has a nickname at Homurahara… the fake janitor,"_ that was not a normal nickname for a teenager and Dojima found himself wondering exactly what his nephew was like to gain such an unflattering nickname, _"it's probably because he never turns down any requests for help and since he's probably the best handyman in Fuyuki… well he's saved the school a lot of money on maintenance."_

The detective didn't know what to think of that, it sounded to him like the boy was letting others walk all over him and take advantage of whatever skills he had managed to develop in his youth.

"It sounds to me like they're just taking advantage of him," he couldn't stop himself from admitting, earning a snort from the girl that had brought this to his attention.

 _"Oh, they most certainly do… but Shirou likes helping others, he thinks that simply helping others is its own reward,"_ well, he certainly had to admit that the boy sounded helpful at the very least, probably still adhering to the rules of chivalry even in this day and age if what he heard was right.

"I see, well, I suppose if he likes it," he decided to say, even if it was strange to talk to his girlfriend over the phone about his flaws… well, he supposed that simply acknowledging the boy's flaws was further proof that she wasn't in some high school fling with him and that it was a serious relationship.

 _"It would be nice if he would think about himself for a change,"_ he found himself nearly cringing at the hint of sadness in her tone… for her to say something in such a way was actually rather disconcerting for the detective, _"wait, I can see him walking along the street, he should only be a minute at most."_

At that statement, the middle aged detective found himself growing increasingly nervous, the fact that he was going to speak with his long lost nephew was enough to make him doubt himself… what was he going to say to the boy?  Would he be capable of forging a bond with the child he hadn't seen in over ten years?

_"Tohsaka, I'm home."_

_"Welcome home Emiya-kun."_

_"What are you up to?"_

_"Take the phone and find out for yourself."_

_"Huh?  What's important about a phone call?"_

_"Just take it you moron!"_

_"Fine… fine… hello, Emiya here, who is this?"_

Dojima didn't know how to react to the little conversation that played out on the other end, the fact that his nephew had immediately asked what she was up to was troubling, it was also a little strange that they still called each other by their family names… well, who was he to judge.

"According to everything your girlfriend was able to uncover… your uncle," the heavy smoker stated with a wry grin on his lips that was quickly dropped at the boys next words.

 _"Kiritsugu had a brother?"_ that was a bit of surprise to the man, he hadn't expected such a response, though he guessed he shouldn't have been surprised, the fact that the files mentioned the fact that he had been adopted by a man named Emiya Kiritsugu should've made it clear that the boy would think of him as his father.

"I don't know about Kiritsugu, I'm the brother in law of your biological father," he decided to drop that bombshell and soon found the other end of the line growing silent.

 _"My biological father?"_ Dojima found himself frowning at the way the boy said it, it was as if the concept was alien to him, something that didn't make sense, _"how do you even know who my biological father was?"_

"That would be thanks to your girlfriend, since she hired a private investigator to search for any missing relatives you may have, she managed to come in contact with me," he decided to inform the young man on the other end of the phone, "the fact that she managed to get a blood sample from you made it easier."

 _"So, how concrete is the evidence?"_ that was a surprise, the fact that the boy decided to ask something like that made it clear that he had at least a good head on his shoulders if he ever decided to enter law enforcement.

"The chances of you not being my nephew are so small that they're negligible," his response was straight forward and made it clear what he thought, "and I work as a detective so I know how to find holes in a story."

 _"You're a detective?"_ the hint of surprise in the boy's tone was enough to let him know that he'd managed to catch the boy off guard at least slightly.

"Yeah, the best in Inaba," he admitted easily, not that it was much to brag about, Inaba didn't really have many police officers full stop.

 _"Inaba?  I've never heard of it,"_ he wasn't surprised by the statement on the other end of the phone, most people who had nothing to do with it hadn't after all.

"It's a small town about an hours' drive away from Okina," he decided to admit, earning a small 'ah' of understanding from the other end, "so… I take it you and Tohsaka-san are in a pretty serious relationship?"

 _"Yeah… I guess so, I don't really think too much on it,"_ that surprised the older man, why wouldn't a teenager want to think on something like that.

"Why not?" he couldn't stop himself from asking that question.

 _"Because I can't see what she sees in me if I'm honest,"_ the way the boy said it, made the cop squirm, it wasn't said in a self depreciating way, it wasn't said with depression, it wasn't even said jokingly… it was said like a fact.

"Can you tell me anything good about yourself as a person?" he hoped he was wrong but he had a sinking suspicion that his hunch was right.

_"…"_

The silence was telling.  The boy didn't think about his good qualities, he couldn't see why someone would fall in love with him, he helped everyone who asked and his girlfriend was concerned about his behaviour.

He had survivors guilt.

His long lost nephew couldn't forgive himself for a crime that wasn't a crime.

That of living where others died.

It was then that he realised just why the Tohsaka girl had put the effort into finding the boy's long lost family and he would be damned if he didn't help his nephew… internally he just _knew_ the girl had played him and suddenly the boy's words when he returned home hit him full force and it was with that that the detective decided on a fact that was as clear as the sun.

Tohsaka Rin was a manipulative little witch.


	2. Chapter 2

Shirou couldn't stop himself from frowning as he sat at the table surrounded by Saber, Rin and Fuji-nee.

"I still can't believe it," he muttered, easily loud enough to be heard by the others at the table.

"Well it is true Emiya-kun, whether you believe it or not, you have a living blood relative," Rin stated in her ever knowing manner… though now he knew how to tell when she really knew what was going on and when she was just pretending to have everything under control.

It really was strange to think that at one point he thought she was perfect, but having seen her at her lowest point and discovering just how deep her insecurities really were… it just made her that much stronger in his eyes.

"I still can't believe you kept it from me for so long," was all he could say in response to that, earning a knowing smirk off the girl.

"But if I had let you know, you would've stopped me so I wouldn't cause any inconvenience to them now wouldn't you?" he couldn't respond to that, he knew she was right, it would be a real inconvenience to them if they grew close to him and then received word that he died in some remote location for reasons that would never be passed on to them.

It was better that they just didn't know about him so they wouldn't bother getting close in the first place.

"Shirou, what are you going to do?" he had to admit that he was surprised at his honorary sisters lack of energy right now… well, maybe the phrase 'lack of energy' wasn't appropriate, she was fidgeting so much it almost looked like she was having a seizure, so maybe concerned was a better term to use.

"We're going to move there so he can get closer to his family," everyone found themselves freezing at the dark haired girls statement, the fact that she was so willing to just say something like that without any hesitation was one of the reasons no one reacted straight away.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN MOVE THERE?!!!" and then the Tiger exploded, "SHIROU!  IF YOU MOVE THERE THEN WHO'S GOING TO FEED ME?!!!"

"F-Fuji-nee, calm down," he tried to placate her before she caused too much chaos, "I never planned anything like that."

"Maybe, but I've already had Raiga-san deal with all the necessary paperwork, so we'll be transferring to Yasogami High School for the new school year," the Tohsaka Heiress stated bluntly, earning a look of absolute dread from the raging Tiger.

"Ah, Tohsaka, you realise that my Uncle won't have room for all of us right?  Especially given how his other nephew will be staying over next year as well," the red head found himself asking, earning an incredulous look off the girl that tended to wear red whenever possible.

"Of course I know that, we'll be staying over at one of my properties," her statement caught both him and Fujimura-sensei off guard, honestly the only one that didn't seem to be surprised was Saber, who calmly continued her meal as if nothing was happening.

"What do you mean one of your properties?" he couldn't stop himself from asking, from what he knew the Tohsaka mansion was where her family lived for generations so why did she have a property in or near Inaba?

"Emiya-kun, my family is old and wealthy, do you really think it wouldn't have multiple properties?" she asked with a knowing smirk gracing her lips as the boy processed her words, "even if it was usually used as a summer home when my parents decided to visit a hot spring, it doesn't change the fact that it is now my property and I can use it however I want."

Shirou found himself deflating at that piece of logic… he usually forgot the fact that the Tohsaka was a wealthy family, the fact that they could afford their jewels was enough proof of that, though he did idly wonder where they got their money from.

"So you're saying that you've already decided and I have no say in this right?" he decided to confirm, earning a nod off acknowledgement from the dark haired girl.

"NO!!! Shirou!  You can't leave!" Taiga was practically crying over the fact that he was apparently going to stolen away from her… or rather, the kitchen she had access to anyway.

Honestly he was certain she was only crying over the fact he wouldn't be feeding her anymore.

"Fuji-nee, you can always get Sakura to cook for you when she's finished looking after Shinji," that bit of logic seemed to catch the overenthusiastic teacher off guard as she processed what he was saying before her face lit up, "besides, both of you are free to use my home as much as you want anyway."

He could tell that his suggestion was being met with little resistance, given how Sakura was his equal in cooking, it wasn't that much of a surprise that his legal guardian would be more than willing to listen to his words about that.

Of course, Rin was also just as good as him but was more than happy to let him keep the kitchen to himself, something he was grateful for given just how relaxing he found the act of cooking.

"So then, in about one month we'll be moving to Inaba, so you'll get to meet your family then," the fact that Rin said it in such a matter of fact way wasn't lost on the son of the Magus Killer and silently, he just knew that he would've never had any say in it even if she had told him before.

"Well… I guess I'll have to accept it if grandfather has already done all the paperwork," Taiga said with a downcast expression, she was probably going to miss having her usual punching bag and free food dispenser readily available, that much was for certain.

"So, we shall leave in spring?" Saber finally decided to confirm, earning a nod off the dark haired girl.

"That's right, we'll go during the spring break so we should have a few days to get used to the town at the very least," let it be said that Rin wasn't the sort to idle around when there was work to be done, even if that work was just planning for the future.

"I guess I'll have to make sure everything is done at school before then," the only male at the table muttered before nodding his head, there was no way he would leave the school in disrepair even if he had to spend every day working on it before he left.

He just hoped Issei could manage without him for his last year.

 

XXX XXX XXX

 

"Well Emiya, I have to admit that while I am disappointed that you'll be leaving for your last year, I am glad that you have managed to find your family," Ryuudou Issei tended to be a rather serious person and was someone Shirou considered a good friend, "though I am certain it will be good for you to finally escape that witches clutches."

Shirou winced slightly at his old friends statement, not finding it in his heart to tell the boy that the so called witch was moving with him.

It hadn't been long after the Grail War that Shirou and Rin's relationship had become public, with most people wondering what the school idol was doing with the 'fake janitor'… though not so surprisingly, Issei had come to the conclusion that he was being manipulated by the 'perfect student'.

Oh he would certainly admit to being manipulated by her but it wasn't through her 'perfect student' façade that everyone else was fooled by.

Then again, it could also be said that Shirou was only being manipulated by her _because_ he knew the real her… he had no idea how Issei would react if he ever found out that his suspicions about Tohsaka were right and the friend he thought was being pulled in by the perfect student act was actually being pulled in by the real her.

Yes, Shirou was more than willing to admit that Tohsaka Rin was manipulative, selfish and stubborn… but then again, he loved the real her, not the fake that walked around the school.

He just didn't have the heart to tell his friend that his worries were not only completely justified… but completely pointless as well.

"Emiya… please tell me you're going to cut off all ties with Tohsaka," the student council president said seriously, earning a nervous twitch off the red head.

"Uh…" he really didn't want to lie to his friend but he just knew that Issei would probably have a heart attack if he ever told him that he was actually _living_ with her… or that neither of them were virgins anymore.

"Emiya, this is your chance to escape from her, please don't let her keep her claws dug in you, whatever blackmail material she may have on you won't matter if you aren't here," and that was another misconception that the bespectacled monk in training had made.

Certainly Rin had blackmail on him, all she had to do was inform the Clock Tower that he had a reality marble and he was guaranteed to receive a sealing designation.

And no magus wanted a sealing designation placed on them.

But that didn't change the fact that Rin wouldn't do that, despite how much she refused to admit it, he knew that she cared about him too much, the fact that she had vivisected him in his sleep after finding out about his reality marble was proof of that.

He idly wondered how strange it was to consider not being cut open a sign of affection.

"Uh… well you see…" he didn't know how to explain it to his friend, the fact that he simply didn't _want_ to escape Rin's clutches, that despite occasionally being showered with Gandrs and constantly having to deal with her biting remarks… he still loved her.

"What is it Emiya?" the suspicious look that the monk in training gave him was enough to make him finally relent, even if he didn't like the thought of telling his friend about it, he would find out anyway so it was probably better to tell him so he had time to prepare for the day he would leave.

"Tohsaka is moving with me," Shirou idly wondered if it was humanly or even inhumanly possible to pale as much as his dark haired friend, he was pretty sure his face had gone bone white at his declaration, "… besides, I already know just how bad she is, so you don't need to warn me alright?"

"I see… in that case leave everything to me," the solemn declaration that left the student council presidents mouth made the red head blink in confusion, "whatever blackmail she has on you, I will find it and destroy it."

Shirou found himself letting out a sigh of exasperation, no matter how hard he tried to explain it to his friend, he doubted the boy would listen… so in the end he guessed there was only really one thing to do.

"Look Issei, you don't have to do anything," just as the bespectacled boy was about to open his mouth to protest that statement, the red head cut him off, "Tohsaka is a manipulative, violent, selfish, stubborn and vindictive person… to levels you probably never imagined," he noted the look of surprise on his long time friends face and so he let out a reassuring smile, "she's probably worse than you thought she was but honestly… I don't care."

"W-what?" Issei was obviously left flabbergasted at that declaration but Shirou wasn't done there.

"Because despite her flaws, despite having seen her at her lowest… I love her," he knew that saying such a thing in front of her would probably cause her to grow incredibly embarrassed and shoot him with Gandrs in order to cover up her weakness, but it was the only way he could think of that he hadn't tried to use to get Issei to leave her alone, "plus, she isn't blackmailing me… even if she has enough dirt on me to do so if she wanted."

"Shirou, I don't know what sort of dirt anyone could have on you but I swear that I will find it and destroy it… you have my word as your friend," and the boy with a reality marble once again let out a sigh of exasperation.

"Look Issei, the sort of dirt Tohsaka has on me isn't physical, so you _can't_ do anything about it, alright," he decided to hope that his friend would finally give up on his self appointed goal of 'freeing him from the witch'… which if he was honest was a rather appropriate 'nickname' for his girlfriend given how most humans didn't know anything about actual witchcraft and how it differed from magecraft.

If he was honest, neither did he.

"Shirou… you have helped me far more than any normal friend would, if you have any problems I swear I will do my best to help you with them, so please, stop trying to stop me from helping you," Shirou  could do little more than cringe at the desperation in his friends eyes, he knew that Issei meant well but he was simply getting a little overbearing now.

"Thank you for the support but Rin isn't a problem, I'm happy with her so please… just leave it," he wondered if he would ever be capable of convincing the bespectacled boy that he wasn't being blackmailed into the relationship with the dark haired girl, idly he thought it was probably easier to put out the sun with a glass of water than convince the boy that his fears weren't correct.

And if he remembered correctly, adding water to the sun made it burn slightly stronger.

He could just tell that Issei wasn't going to let it go, so he did the only thing he could think of to try and distract the other boy.

"So does anything need fixing?" it was clear from the student council presidents face that he knew exactly what Shirou was doing but in the end, the dark haired boy simply let out a sigh of defeat before giving a list of everything that needed fixing, something that Shirou was more than capable of doing even when he was jury rigging magic circuits from his nerves instead of using his now fully functional ones.

And so it was with a satisfied smile that the redhead did what he did best (well, outside of collecting swords that is) and got to work on fixing the school to the best of his abilities before he left.

 

XXX XXX XXX

 

The next few weeks passed by rapidly for the group of lovers as they worked towards getting everything done before they left for a new school… though obviously Shirou was having the hardest time of it due to helping out so much all over the place combined with his part time job at the Copenhagen, which despite the fact he was moving out of town, he decided to keep till the end if only to give the owners a chance to hire someone to take his place before he left.

It was during the last few days that Rin sent some of their less important belongings to a warehouse in Inaba via a removal service, though she refused to let any of them near anything related to magecraft… which was one of the reasons she had their belongings sent to a warehouse instead of the house they would be staying… that and the fact that they wouldn't be capable of bypassing the bounded fields that would naturally be set up around the property.

Eventually though, the day of departure finally came.

"Saber!  I'm trusting you to make sure nothing indecent happens over there!" Shirou's legal guardian exclaimed seriously as everyone was gathered on the platform that their train was departing from, earning a firm nod off the blonde… it amazed the red head that she could keep her cool under that statement… he wouldn't be if it wasn't for the simple fact that the Knight was directly involved in their 'indecent' acts.

"I understand Taiga," the fact that she could keep such a steady voice despite blushing so clearly was another amazing feat… Shirou for his part was simply relieved that the Tiger seemed to think that she was blushing in embarrassment at being trusted so much… instead of blushing over the sheer fact that she was taking advantage of that trust.

Then again, he wasn't sure if Fuji-nee actually knew that the relationship involved all three of them and not just him and Rin… especially given how most of the students that spread rumours didn't even know about Saber.

So since she believed Saber to be Kiritsugu's old work friend and a responsible adult, she trusted the King of Knights to uphold her students chastity.

He just prayed that Rin wouldn't let the cat out the bag and cause all sorts of problems for the trio.

Especially given how he was certain there would end up being trouble at school given the fact that two of the new students would be sleeping in the same house… even if those difficulties would probably be laid to rest by Rin and a simple bout of hypnosis.

Honestly she was far too willing to manipulate the minds of others as far as Shirou was concerned… then again, she was a proper magus so it wasn't really that surprising.

"Emiya… I am sorry I have failed you," Shirou decided to try his hardest to ignore Issei's depressed tone as the boy still refused to admit that his friend was willingly interacting with someone like Rin.

"Issei… how many times do I have to tell you, my relationship with Tohsaka doesn't revolve around blackmail?" the red head found himself asking that simple question anyway.

"Emiya, you admitted it yourself that Tohsaka isn't what she portrays herself to be, do you honestly expect me to believe that you would associate with such a person?" the way the dark haired boy asked the question made it clear that he thought it was obvious what the answer was.

"Issei... I was friends with Shinji," the deadpanned delivery told everything that needed to be said, especially given how horrible a person Shinji was.

"Oi!  I resent that Emiya!" the very person he had just mentioned called out, making the sword collecting magus turn to face his old friend.

Being turned into a Lesser Grail had done wonders for the arrogant teen's personality… in exchange for crippling him physically, even now he was still bound in a wheelchair and required his sisters assistance with everything outside of eating.

Just like how he was currently being pushed along by the purple haired girl who was currently wearing a darker expression than she ever did before discovering he and Rin were romantically involved.

Honestly he didn't know why she kept giving Rin such dark looks, he wouldn't call them glares… but they certainly weren't pleasant, especially when compared to the sad smiles she tended to give him.

"Shinji, Sakura," he called out calmly, he knew that the two were here to see him, Rin and Saber off.

"Senpai…" the voice was quiet but he didn’t miss Sakura calling his name, nor the way her expression darkened further upon seeing Rin and Saber standing next to him with their luggage resting at their sides.

"Hello Sakura, it's good to see you could make it," he didn't know why her eyes lowered or her face flushed but in the end, he simply decided that it didn't really matter, "feel free to use my home while I'm gone, I'm sure Fuji-nee will want feeding even if I'm not around."

The fact that he received a firm nod of confirmation from his sister figure only seemed to make the purple haired girl smile with a faint hint of happiness, more than he had seen her do since the end of the Grail War and the start of his relationship with Rin.

"Shirou, Rin, the train is arriving," the conversation was stopped short as Saber pointed out the fact that their train had finally arrived, right on time as expected of the Japanese transport network.

"I guess we've run out of time huh?" the red head said as he proceeded to take two of the six suitcases that they were taking with them… five of which were Rin's and filled with supplies for her magecraft, while the last contained what little they needed for their first night before they got a chance to empty the warehouse they had hired to keep their stuff until they could get it into their new residence.

"Shirou… remember to call!  And to come back and visit sometime!" the way that the teacher of the group made those demands made him idly wonder if she was channelling some previously unknown maternal instincts… before he shuddered at the thought of how any child raised by the woman would turn out.

"Yes Fuji-nee," was his only response to her demands as the train pulled up to the platform and stopped to let the passengers off and on, "well, goodbye everyone, I'll make sure to call every now and then."

The cacophony of farewells may not have had many involved in it but with Taiga there… well, it was hard to make out anything over her cries.

It took a few minutes to find a set of seats suitable for their purposes, what with how Rin refused to let her bags out of her sight given just how valuable the suitcases were… which of course meant that she wouldn't let him put the five cases containing her resources in the luggage racks above their heads, which meant that by the time they were seated, the train was already on its way towards the next stop.

"You know Tohsaka, we're going to have to be sat like this for nearly four hours right?" he just thought he would make it clear to the girl exactly how long they would have to cramped like they currently were.

"I know… but I am not risking losing any of my luggage, it's value is worth far more than just money," she stated seriously, making the red head release a sigh of acceptance, she had forced it into his head that to a magus, knowledge was worth far more than mere money and all knowledge on magecraft was to be guarded with even more vigour than your life.

Personally he didn't see why but then again, he had a reality marble and a matching element and origin so most knowledge concerning magecraft was pretty useless to him anyway.

"It is true that most of your luggage is valuable beyond measure for one of your disposition and should not be left unattended," Saber said from her place near the window as the  scenery passed by rapidly, since it was a cross country line, they wouldn't hit another stop for quite some time but they hadn't quite left the city yet.

"As long as you realise," he didn't really mind himself, he just didn't want Rin to bite his head off for not mentioning it later, "I wonder what Inaba's like."

"From what I've seen of it in my family albums, it seems like a less urban version of Miyama," the dark haired magus stated with a shrug, "you'll probably fit in perfectly there."

Shirou didn't know what to think of her statement, whether she meant it as a compliment or an insult, so he decided to take it as the former, after all, if she meant it as an insult then taking it the other way would probably annoy her and he quite liked it when he managed to get under her skin.

"Yeah, it sounds like a nice enough place when you put it like that," he noted the way her expression seemed to remain neutral, indicating that she had probably meant it as a simple statement, it tended to soften when he accepted a compliment while she started twitching when he turned an insult against her.

Honestly, she was rather easy to read now that he had a bit of experience with her.

Though he knew that as soon as _that_ smile was put on, his best option was to run as fast as he could and hope he was faster than her Gandrs.

Noting that they were currently in a train with nowhere to really run if he got on her nerves, he decided that it was probably not a good time to try getting on her nerves.

Now it was just a matter of figuring out what he could do for four hours.

 

XXX XXX XXX

 

Finally getting off at Yasoinaba, the trio found themselves happily accepting the fresh country air, something they rarely got to breath in Fuyuki, even in the relatively peaceful Miyama district that they lived.

"Well, I don't think I've ever breathed air this fresh," Shirou admitted casually before noting that his companions were also taking in the fresh spring air.

"It has been awhile since I last had the chance to taste air as fresh as this," Saber admitted with a near imperceptible smile adorning her face.

"Well, I'm in the same boots as Shirou, I think it may take awhile to get used to air this… clean," the Tohsaka heir admitted with a frown, making the red head look at her strangely.

"Uh, Tohsaka?  Are you alright?" her response was simply to look at him as if was asking something unbelievable.

"Of course I am, why would you think I wasn't?" her tone wasn't one she usually used whenever she was simply denying something so it was clear to him that she clearly was confused about why he had asked.

"You didn't sound particularly happy when you mentioned the fresh air," he decided that simply admitting the truth was probably better than denying it.

"Oh that… I was thinking about how the air in Fuyuki is… if the difference really is this great then I'm considering staying out of the city," she informed him calmly, making him nod his head in acknowledgement.

"Hey!  You three over there!" a much firmer voice called out, making the three blink in slight surprise as they looked over the car park to see a middle aged man with messy black hair, a grey shirt and black slacks, carrying a jacket over his shoulder, "you're Shirou, Rin and Saber right?"

Upon hearing the man make that claim, the three suddenly found themselves tensing before their train of thought was cut off.

"I'm Dojima Ryotaro, Fujimura-san called me yesterday about your expected arrival time," he admitted with a lopsided grin, "thought it would be a good idea if I gave you a lift to this house you are supposed to be staying in… though I didn't expect quite so much luggage."

Shirou didn't know what to think as the man that he discovered to be his uncle made that claim, he had expected to walk to the house they were going to be staying but even more importantly, he didn't know how the Tohsaka's bounded fields would respond to the man's presence.

"That’s quite alright, we need to stretch our legs anyway… plus we want to get a feel for the town before we settle down for the night," Rin's response was rather simple but then again, she wasn't quite finished at just that, "however if you could give us directions then we'd be grateful."

"Are you sure?  The address I was given is a reasonable distance away for people with six suitcases… plus they say the house is haunted," the older man seemed sceptical at the excuse given and also let the group know that at the very least, most people in Inaba weren't comfortable around their residence.

"Ah, don't worry about that, I'm sure Tohsaka will scare away any ghosts in the morning," he suddenly realised that he shouldn't have said that when he felt the air grow cold… the fact that his uncle seemed to be glancing at Rin nervously also lent weight to that feeling.

"What was that Emiya-kun?" there it was… _that_ smile.  The smile that said 'the only thing stopping me from brutally maiming you right now is this smile'.

"To be fair on Shirou, you are rather dreadful in the morning," Shirou felt both a sense of relief and a sense of dread as Saber decided to cover him.

"What?!  Saber…" the surprise in the little magus's tone was clear, obviously she wasn't expecting her servant to back him up, "for that, you are not allowed to sleep with Shirou for a week!"

"R-Rin!" the sheer fact that Saber was practically as red as a tomato probably would've made any attempts at dismissing it as a joke fail.

"Argh... W-WHAT THE HELL?!!" Shirou found himself wishing he was facing Gilgamesh again, he was pretty certain it would be easier than trying to explain the current situation to his uncle now, "Fujimura-san told me that Saber-san was coming here to keep an eye on you two and make sure you weren't doing anything you weren't supposed to!"

"Well to be fair, Fujimura-sensei made incorrect assumptions and none of us bothered to correct them," the girl in red said with a shrug.

Shirou didn't know what was going to happen as the older man proceeded to take a few deep breaths… before visibly forcing himself to relax.

"I'll admit, I hadn't expected my nephew to be in a relationship with two women… let alone two who know about each other," he admitted as calmly as he could manage before glancing to the side, "damn I need a drink."

"Sorry," his response was weak but it was all he could really manage given how the situation had turned.

He guessed he was just happy that his Uncle wasn't pressing the fact that he was in a ménage a trois, even if he was clearly finding it hard to process.

"I'll just pray that my other nephew isn't going to cause me a headache like this," Shirou simply found himself agreeing with the older man, after all, it would clearly be bad for the man if too much stress was placed on him outside of work, especially with how he was probably having to arrange security for that TV announcer involved in that affair he saw about on the TV, "now, are you sure you don't want a lift? I think I may be capable of squeezing all that luggage in the car if I try."

"Like Tohsaka said, it's fine, we were wanting to have a bit of a walk when we got here anyway," the red head wasn't lying when he made that statement, taking a walk along the street would give them a little bit of time to examine the road between the station and their new residence, something Rin was very eager to do given the fact that they were in unfamiliar territory.

Of course the fact that they would probably spend half the night getting to know the layout of the town wasn't something they were going to tell the detective.

After all, even if they weren't in the midst of a Grail War, as Magi it was only natural for them to make sure they knew the area they lived in as well as they could just in case anything went wrong.

"You know, you could've told me you were planning this before you got here," Ryotaro said with an unhappy air surrounding him.

"Well, to be fair, we didn't know Fuji-nee had called you up about our travel arrangements," he couldn't stop himself from pointing that part out to the middle aged man he had only spoken to on the phone until then.

"Yeah, I guess I never considered that," the bitter smile the man gave made it clear that he had probably arrived with the intention of getting to meet his long lost nephew and their decision to walk was making him feel unhappy… but given how none of them knew what sorts of protections the Tohsaka property had on them, it simply wasn't worth the risk of letting him near it.

If they were certain it was like the main house then they would but given how this building wouldn't regularly be inhabited but would probably have some magecraft materials within… it may very well have more aggressive protections than the main property.

"Plus, we've just spent four hours cramped into a corner because Tohsaka refused to let five of the bags leave her sight because of how valuable some of the heirlooms in them are… so we really need the chance to stretch without being crushed," he finally decided to add, earning a nod of agreement from Saber and a huff of annoyance from the very reason they had had such a terrible journey.

"Heh, I guess I can accept that one," the older man's tone sounded lighter at that declaration and the reactions it gained from the two girls in the group, "well, the house you're supposed to be staying at is pretty much right next to the river on the outskirts of the forest right of here, so it shouldn't be that hard to find."

"Thank you Dojima-san," Shirou was about to say more before he was cut off by the grey shirt wearing adult.

"Hey, come on, I thought I told you to stop being so formal and call me Ojisan?" it was said with a rather lopsided grin but the small amused snort that came from Rin threw the man off a little.

"Trust me, it'll take more than just a familial connection to make that blockhead act casual with you," at that statement, the young Emiya just let out an exasperated sigh, he knew she didn't mean it maliciously but he didn't know if his Uncle realised that or not.

"I guess I'll just have to take your word on that," well at least the man seemed to realise that she wasn't really against him, then again, given the fact that the man spoke with her long before he spoke with him, he guessed it shouldn't really be that surprising, "though with a mouth like that, I'm beginning to wonder if my initial impression of Shirou was misguided."

That statement made the red head perk up in interest, he didn't really know what the man thought of him outside of 'his long lost nephew'.

"Oh, and what was your initial impression?" the little magus in red asked him with a  raised eyebrow, earning a grin in response.

"Now that would be telling wouldn't it?" Shirou was beginning to wonder if he had misjudged his Uncle as being more serious than he really was, given the way he seemed almost amused at saying something like that.

"Shirou, Rin, I know you may be having fun talking with Dojima-san but we should make our way to our new residence before the sun starts setting," the only blonde in the group stated in her usual no nonsense tone, while Saber may have grown more relaxed since the war ended, she was still so used to the role of the King that relaxing wasn't the sort of thing she ever got used to.

"Sorry, I guess I've held you three up more than I expected," the man sounded regretful of that fact as he gave them one last, strained smile, "I would like to ask that you join me and Nanako for dinner tomorrow… though I'm not sure you will all fit around the table comfortably."

"Ah, if we're going to join you for dinner then at least let me make it," Shirou decided to say seriously, knowing just how much people normally misjudged Saber's appetite.

"What?  No, I can't have you working when you're a guest," the uneasy grin the man gave at the way the current conversation was going wasn't something he was expecting.

"Let Shirou cook, if there is anything that can upset Saber it is half assed cooking," Shirou silently thanked Rin for letting the man know one of the main reasons he wanted to do the cooking, "plus I doubt you'll prepare enough to feed her, something Shirou is more than used to now."

"Armies march on their stomachs," the fact that Saber was more than prepared to say that clearly made Dojima uneasy.

"And you have the stomach of an army," Shirou couldn't stop a smile from cracking a smile as the Tohsaka heir turned Saber's own catchphrase against her.

Besides it was nice to see Saber blush like she was now.

"So… what? Does Saber-san eat enough for two people?" it was clear that Shirou's uncle had no experience with the blonde.

"I have to make about four to five portions for her," he wasn't surprised when he saw his uncles face pale at that declaration, it wasn't everyday one person ate enough for a whole family.

"Are you serious?" it was clear that the detective was hoping he was exaggerating, so he simply nodded his head with a grim expression on his face to let the man know he was being serious, "damn… that must cost a lot."

"That's why I love sales," he didn't know what else he could say, it was true after all, he could make practically anything in the kitchen which meant that whatever was on sale would be the perfect for what he wanted… something cheap to feed Saber with.

"I guess so, well, I guess I need to get back to Nanako, if I had known you would be walking I would've brought her here to meet you," the smile was far more genuine than the others he gave earlier.

"Yeah, we'll see you tomorrow… Ojisan," he tasted the word, this time with a face to associate it with and despite how much he wanted to put the two together… it left a bitter taste in his mouth.

Calling this man that was like denying that Kiritsugu was his father.

"See you tomorrow Shirou, Tohsaka-san, Saber-san," and with a friendly wave, the man turned back to his car while muttering something that Shirou barely caught, "hmm… I guess I have enough fuel to last until I pick up Yū."

"Well, let's go and set up our new home," he decided to just do what they needed to do before anything else, of course Rin would go in first since she was the only one the defences would definitely ignore.

And then when she'd adjusted them, they would finally set themselves up in Inaba and get their first meal in the small town before scouting the land just in case.


	3. Chapter 3

Shirou opened his eyes slowly.

The first thing he noticed was the warmth of the body laying next to him.

He briefly took a moment to remember last night, taking note that Rin had indeed forbidden Saber from sleeping with him for a week for embarrassing her in front of his uncle.

He didn't mind, while he loved Saber, he still felt bad about the first day after defeating Gilgamesh… he had just been so happy to see that Rin had managed to maintain Saber as her familiar that he had ended up ignoring the little magus for most of the day.

And that's not even including that disaster that happened the night before the final battle of the Grail War, which only made him feel even worse about the way he had treated her.

So he wasn't going to argue about spending a few nights without the blonde.

However it didn't change the fact that he now had a small problem.

When he slept with both women, it was a simple matter of repositioning them so they could use each other for comfort when he woke up… the fact that Saber was willing to do so when he usually woke her up accidentally simply made it easier for him to extract himself.

But now… now he would have to try and pry himself free of Rin without waking her up or giving her something suitable to cling to in his place.

This was one of those times he was thankful that she was a relatively heavy sleeper.

"Mn…" he froze from his attempts at extracting himself from her grip when a soft moan escaped her lips and making him hope he hadn't inadvertently woken the dark haired girl.

After a few seconds of squirming on her part, her eyes started to blearily open, causing him to freeze and pray that she wouldn't get angry at being woken up.

"Uh… good morning Tohsaka," his voice was clearly nervous, then again, he knew just how bad she usually appeared before getting her morning tea, though he usually managed to avoid her for the most part when she was like that.

"Uh… Shirou?" his heart started beating faster at her sleepy mumble of his given name, the fact was that most of the time they still referred to each other by the family names despite their relationship… he guessed it was simply because of how naturally they slipped off their tongues.

So hearing her moan out his name while latched onto him and letting her soft skin rub against his… well, he decided that he definitely needed a cold shower.

Then he remembered that their new residence didn't have one.

"Two more hours," and with that quiet demand, the dark haired girl proceeded to close her eyes in order to drift back to sleep.

"Uh… Tohsaka, I need to get up now," he tried to reason with her before she left the land of the conscious, hoping she would accept his statement.

"No school… no need," and with that said, she simply tightened her grip on him before letting sleep claim her once again.

For his part, Shirou could do little more than remain on the bed and think about the fact that Rin was being rather unfair, he wanted to get his morning exercises done before doing anything else… then again, she tended to exercise just before going to bed, which in turn gave her a firm and sleek figure that was mostly fully functional muscle.

Honestly all three of them were in prime physical condition… well, unless you included the fact that Saber was technically dead.

But since it seemed that he wouldn't be successful in escaping his girlfriends clutches, he decided to just put his mind to work on everything that had happened the previous night.

They hadn't had much trouble getting in the house, not with how easily Rin had been capable of adjusting them to allow practically anyone entry to anywhere except her workshop, so that would mean that his Uncle and cousin could visit whenever they wanted.

There was a major problem with the house though… the fact that there were no modern appliances or even electrical wiring in the building, meaning he would have to find somewhere in Inaba that could sell him copper wiring and all the other materials he would need to upgrade the house to a modern standard of living.

Sure they could've just found someone to do it for them but in the end, they all agreed that saving money whenever possible was the best idea, what with how expensive Rin's jewels for her magecraft were.

Plus they didn't know who in the area was trustworthy and Shirou wasn't known as one of Fuyuki's best handymen for no reason, so it was probably best for him to be the one wiring the building.

And that's not even including the fact that there was no way she would let anyone else into her workshop, even he was only allowed in there because of their relationship, his lack of talent in magecraft _and_ the fact that he was technically her apprentice.

Not that he cared too much about that fact, he knew that a magus guarded their secrets with more vigour than their own lives so the mere fact that he was allowed in her workshop at all was a miracle in and of itself.

But outside of the wiring issues, Shirou would admit that the house was rather nice, two stories tall with three bedrooms, a large reception room, a central bathroom as well as an en suite for the master bedroom.  The kitchen, despite its lack of modern utensils, was large and once he had wired and furnished the house properly it would make his kitchen back home look substandard.

There was a large study on the first floor, filled with books on many different subjects, though Rin and Saber were planning on looking through the library there and extracting any texts on magecraft and transferring them to the basement… aka, Rin's new workshop, though given how there was a large area that wasn't being used, it was likely that he and Saber would do their light sparring there as well.

That was another issue that made things a bit more complicated, Saber took so much prana to keep around that Rin _needed_ him to supply one or both of them with extra prana on a near daily basis, which of course meant that he and Saber couldn't really push themselves to their limits when training without risking her using too much prana.

Certainly Saber had mentioned that if she still had her sheath then her ability to maintain her own existence would increase to the point where Rin would probably be capable of maintaining her without too much difficulty but given how she had no idea where it was… well, it wasn't exactly going to be a viable option.

There was also the matter of breakfast, as without the required appliances, he doubted he could make a proper breakfast like he could back home, sure there were a few very old fashioned things like a brick oven, something he would have to get up to temperature before he could start cooking and he had no idea how long that would take.

It was one of those times when he wondered just why most magi abstained from technology, it definitely made cooking so much easier.

Of course he wanted to complete his exercises before doing anything else, then there was the issue of breakfast, without a refrigerator he couldn't stock any meat for the morning, plus there wasn't a grill anywhere in the house which meant he couldn't even make toast… and on top of that, by the time they had finished unpacking and making sure everything was right, that Junes place had closed, meaning they had been forced to find food at that Aiya place.  Thankfully the food had been passable by Saber's standards, then again, he knew that she ate much worse than what he supplied back when she was alive.

He let out a sigh as he realised just how much he was spoiling her by cooking nearly every day, not that he minded, if she was happy then that made him happy.

Now if only Rin would let him get up and start working on fixing up the house.

 

XXX XXX XXX

 

Shirou had to admit, it was annoying that he had to get a train to Okina in order to find a DIY store, the fact that he was now loaded down with a roll of telephone wire, a telephone socket, two rolls of copper wire as well as several bags of sockets, light fixtures, cable tacks, screws and even a fuse box and several fuses, only made the fact he was having to take it all back by train even more noticeable.

He just hoped it would be enough for the house.

He was going to be getting back later than he had hoped, probably because he hadn't expected Rin to keep him in bed until about eight in the morning… sure most people would consider that a normal morning on a day without work or school, but he was the sort to normally rise at about five o'clock in the morning regardless.

He'd even had to skip out on his usual morning exercises because of that.

To top it off, they had been forced to eat a very simple breakfast that was definitely not to the standard they were used to, after all, all he could really come up with was a quick bite to eat in town which had resulted in them trying that place in the shopping district, Souzai Daigaku.

Though apparently steak croquettes were a concept that confused the blonde, though it didn't stop her from eating several of the small, breaded beef pieces.

[Next stop, Yasoinaba.]

Upon hearing those words, Shirou proceeded to rise from the seat he was on, picking up all the supplies he had bought (he wasn't exactly happy that he had been forced to dig into the inheritance Kiritsugu had left him but he would admit that it was a reasonable thing to spend it on) before heading to the exit and waiting for his chance to exit the train.

 

XXX XXX XXX

 

Rin had to admit, if it had been anyone else, they would've probably struggled to wire the house as efficiently as Shirou was managing.

Then again he was using reinforcement to alter the walls and let him put the wires in them instead of having to rip them apart and then put them back together when he was done.

Honestly, using magecraft in such a manner would probably be considered heretical if viewed by the Clock Tower, then again, Shirou would probably be considered a heretic by them simply for how he viewed his magecraft in the first place.

And that's not even including the fact that he had a Reality Marble.

But despite that, she had to admit that he was making very good time with his attempts at modernising the house by adding wiring… the fact that it had only been two hours and all he had left to do was connect everything to the fuse box and install the sockets before contacting an electrical company and having them hook the house up to the local grid.

It did give her mild irritation that the kitchen wasn't up to a modern specification, not that it wasn't acceptable as it currently was but it would be so much more convenient if it had the more modern kitchen appliances available in it, that was one of the reasons she had decided to stay at Shirou's instead of having him stay at her house after all… his place was just so much more convenient with its fully functional kitchen, lights that didn't require gas refills on a regular basis, a water heater that didn't rely on her starting a fire and waiting to get it hot and that's not even mentioning the fact that the television was useful for collecting information via the news channel.

She may have been raised to shun technology before her father was murdered, but she couldn't deny just how much easier it was to simply press a button on a kettle instead of having to light a fire, wait for the oven to heat up and then wait for the kettle to boil on top of that.

That was the main reason she was more than prepared to let Shirou upgrade her property, he was simply planning on making living there easier, not deck it out with all the most expensive gadgets he could find.

Then she looked at the Grandfather Clock that stood up against the wall of the study as she took a quick break from sorting through the countless volumes of texts that lined the shelves.  It was an old thing, like most of the furniture in the Tohsaka residences across the land, and had required her to set it to the correct time and then wind it up for its eight day functionality… not that she intended on putting that much effort into maintaining it, she was planning on getting a battery powered clock as soon as possible in order to get a long lasting and reliable method of telling the time that she didn't have to crank every week.

Her mind idly wandered to the thought that most Magi now would consider her a heretic for thinking such a thing but she didn't care, if they wanted to keep going by their outdated methods then who was she to complain?

Then again, given who her legal guardian had been for the past ten years, was it really that much of a surprise that she didn't care that much about what they thought of her?

She shook those thoughts from her head and instead focused on the time and more importantly, the fact that it was nearing evening.  Shirou probably would've been further on by now if it hadn't been for how everything up to then hadn't aligned, what with her keeping him in bed for an extra few hours, how they had ended up walking to the shopping district and having breakfast there, how Shirou had to wait for a  train to arrive in order to go to Okina, how long it had taken to find a DIY store and how much he had to get for what he needed to do, then he had the issue of having to wait for a train back… all in all, very little had lined up well for the red head which was why it was already nearing six o'clock despite him only working on the electrics for about two hours.

It really did go to show just how much time having to traverse a city you were completely unfamiliar with took.

But the point was that they were supposed to go to Dojima-san's residence for dinner and they currently had several problems with that.

One, they didn't know where the man lived.

Two, they didn't have a way to contact the man about what arrangements there would be to meet up.

And three, they needed to shop for enough food to feed Saber.

She would admit that her finances weren't exactly good despite the fact was that her family up to her had managed to save a small fortune… which was pretty impressive given their massive expenditure when it came down to jewels.  It was mainly through the use of external businesses that produced a solid profit, though she no longer had those to help her, courtesy of a certain fake priest that had decided she would be better off without them.

She hated the man all the more now that she knew he was the one that destroyed her family… that the man murdered her father and drove her mother to insanity, which in turn led to her death a few years later and her and the Tohsaka estate being handed into Kotomine's care.

The man had proceeded to destroy it and leave her with little more than a few properties, a few jewels that were kept in her father's old workshop and enough money for a few more jewels… which given the cost of them was actually a rather substantial amount.

But despite all that, it wasn't exactly a secret that Shirou didn't like touching his inheritance, the fact that he chose to work instead of dig into it or accept handouts from the Fujimura's was a well known fact to those that knew the boy and given that he had just spent some of it on lights that would be in keeping with the rest of the house, she would accept the cost of the appliances and feeding Saber for awhile… then again, given how Saber was _her_ familiar it probably wasn't right for him to pay for her upkeep anyway.

She didn't have time to think about anything else as one of the house's bounded fields alerted her to a presence heading towards the house at a leisurely pace.

"Saber, we have company," she informed the Servant of the Sword calmly, she didn't expect things to come to blows, especially given how the most likely candidate for who was arriving was Shirou's Uncle… but as a magus she refused to not take some steps in case it was an enemy.

"Understood Rin," the blonde haired swordswoman stated with her usual firm tone even if she had probably reached the same conclusion as the Magus.

Standing up, the dark haired girl left the study and seeing that Shirou was just putting the finishing touches to the fuse box, she let him know of what was happening.

"Shirou, we have a visitor," thankfully the redhead wasn't doing anything that was clearly magecraft, probably just using structural analysis and reinforcement to get everything in just the right place to work flawlessly instead of altering the wall itself.

"Do you think it's Dojima-san?" his question was pretty obvious given how many people knew they lived there.

"Probably, but it's better if we're ready in case it isn't," she admitted calmly, earning a nod of acceptance from the red head, she doubted he would argue after everything they had been through in the Grail War.

It was probably about ten seconds after mentioning it to Shirou that several knocks on the door, honestly the knocker was there mainly for the purpose of giving a more normal feel to the house if anyone that wasn't a Magus had a reason to come up to the property.

After all, bounded fields were powerful… but they weren't infallible.

It was with sure steps that Rin walked to the front door, ready just in case it wasn't who was expected,  before she opened the barrier to see if her prediction was correct or not.

"Hello Tohsaka-san, I wasn't sure I'd knocked hard enough but I couldn't see a doorbell," the middle aged man was indeed who she expected it to be and his reaction to her houses lack of a doorbell seemed to have thrown him for a loop.

"I understand, my family was very old fashioned… honestly Emiya-kun has spent most of the day wiring the house since they never bothered getting any put in themselves," she admitted with a shrug, earning a clear look of surprise from the man.

"Uh, is it really alright to have him do it all himself?  I could get a professional for you if you need the house rewiring," the man with greying hair said with a hint of nervousness in his tone, clearly he expected the boy to make a bit of a mess of it or at least struggle.

"Well, I've already got most of it done, all that's left is to wire up the sockets and then get it attached to the electric grid, I'll leave that part to a professional," Rin found herself inwardly grinning at the fact that Shirou decided to enter the conversation and let the man know that he was nearly finished anyway, "so, are you here to pick us up for dinner?"

"Uh… yeah, but are you sure you know what you're doing?" the fact that the older man asked that question was proof that he knew practically nothing about his nephew.

"Dojima-san, I've been fixing electrical equipment and motorbikes since I can remember… if there is one thing I'm good at, it is making things work," it was clear from the expression on the older man's face that Shirou's statement didn't really make him feel any better.

"But this isn't fixing something, this is wiring an entire house… and a big one at that, are you sure you've done it right, especially if it's only taken you one day?" clearly the detective wasn't particularly accepting of their explanations and Rin found herself grudgingly accepting the man's misgivings.

"Well, we'll have to have whoever arrives to hook us up to the main grid look at it anyway so any flaws should be found then… though I doubt they'll find any since it's Emiya-kun that did the work," she decided to let the man know that they'd get it checked over just in case.

"I guess I can live with that, so are you ready?" the man in a grey shirt asked with a strained smile.

"We'll given that we've only moved in and don't yet have hot water or a proper kitchen, I would have to say that we're as ready as we can be right now," she said with a shrug, earning a grimace from the man.

"You don't have hot water?  Do you want to borrow the bath while you're over?" the smirk that graced the Tohsaka heir's lips upon hearing that was clear.

"That would be wonderful Dojima-san," the pleasant manner with which she made that statement managed to elicit a small shiver from the man, "Saber, please pack a change of clothes for everyone!"

Certainly, she wasn't planning on doing anything… questionable at the Dojima residence but the smile she had worn and the manner in which she had said it was one that she tended to use with Shirou when she wasn't particularly happy with something he did, so it wasn't really much of a surprise that it had elicited a response from the older man.

"Hm… that reminds me, I'll have to contact someone about getting a boiler won't I?" she found herself letting out a small sigh at the handyman's quiet muttering, she just knew it would end up costing her a small fortune to get everything up to standard.

"Heh, I would ask if you can afford it, but if _this_ is your summer home then I'm going to guess that you aren't hard up for cash," the greying haired detective said with a hint of joviality in his tone.

"Just because I have inherited a small fortune doesn't mean I want to spend it all needlessly," she couldn’t stop herself from making that claim, even if she didn't have that much given how costly her magecraft was, it was still enough to be called a small fortune by normal standards.

The fact that Shirou nodded his own head at that was probably one of those things that said just how diligent a person he was.

Then again, she fully expected him to try and find a part time job as soon as they had settled down, if only so they wouldn't have to dig any further into their inheritances than they already had.

It was also possible he would try to save up money in order to restore their inheritances to their original states.

She wouldn't complain, it was just another aspect of being in a relationship with Shirou that made it perfectly clear that he wasn't with her for anything other than emotional attachment… which given how she was with him for the same reason, made her rather happy.

Not that she'd admit it aloud… if anyone ever managed to get her do so, they would find themselves on the receiving end of a few hundred Gandrs.

The way the man looked between the two and put on an amused grin was rather telling all things considered.

"So let me get this right… neither of you are particularly hard off when it comes to finances… and neither of you are big spenders?" he certainly did sound rather amused by that thought, though Rin could do little more than give a nod of affirmation at his question.

"Well, we may spend a bit on some more expensive things every now and then but for everyday living we tend to keep our costs low," she decided to admit, simply referring to her jewelcraft as 'more expensive things' instead of 'half a million yen jewels'.

"Shirou, Rin, are you ready?" the three were interrupted by the arrival of a petite blonde who was now carrying a sports bag with changes of clothes located within.

"Yeah, thank you Saber," Shirou said with his usual smile… one that Rin found herself slightly jealous he showed to the blonde more than he did to her… then again, they had a certain brand of banter that prevented him from giving her such radiant smiles, that's not to say he didn't give her those smiles, it was just more common for them to bicker like an old married couple.

"So, I don't really have much in the fridge, so do you want to stop by Junes before seeing where I live?" the older man asked before grimacing, "sorry, Junes is really the only store we have that sells regular conveniences anymore."

"That is alright, I trust Shirou will make a wonderful meal even if he only has access to substandard ingredients," the expression on Dojima's face at Saber's brutal honesty was most likely classed as disbelief.

"You know, just because it comes from a supermarket doesn't mean it'll be substandard in quality," the detective decided to try and convince the blonde, though he didn't sound particularly sure about it himself.

"That's alright Dojima-san," the dark haired girl said with a small smirk playing her lips, "Saber has just been spoiled rotten by Emiya-kun."

"R-Rin!" the embarrassment in Saber's voice was clear to everyone listening.

"Hah, well then I guess I'll just have to hope this small town can satisfy your standards your highness," the man was clearly mocking what he had heard but judging from Saber's sudden tensing, she didn't realise that.

"What do you mean by that?" she asked sternly, making the man jerk slightly in surprise at her far more aggressive tone.

"Saber, calm down, he was just messing with you," Shirou's statement caused the woman to blink and look at him in confusion, "sorry Dojima-san, Saber is a bit sheltered so she doesn't always pick up on things like sarcasm."

"Uh… sorry, I guess," the man really didn't seem particularly sure about what to think given what had just happened, "anyway, I think we really should get going, Nanako will probably be getting lonely by now."

"Of course Dojima-san," Shirou said with his usual, overly polite manner.

"You're not planning on calling me Ojisan at all are you?" the man with greying hair finally decided to point out, earning a grimace off the red head.

"Sorry, it just doesn't feel right to call you that," it was obvious the young sword collector didn't like admitting that but maybe, just maybe, Shirou may grow close enough to the man to refer to him in the more familiar manner… that was one of the reasons they were there in the first place.

Though the main reason was still about getting Shirou close enough to his cousin to guilt trip him into taking care of himself.

Rin never forgot that, it was her plan after all.

"Well then, let's go, we don't want to waste the entire night talking at our front door do we?" and with that claim from Tohsaka, the group of four finally started their journey to the car and then, Junes.

 

XXX XXX XXX

 

Dojima Nanako was terrified.

She knew that her father was going to be bringing her long lost cousin and his girlfriend home tonight and she had no idea how she was supposed to act around them.

Sure, she had spoken to that Tohsaka girl over the phone once and spoken to Shirou a few times as well… but this would be the first time she had ever met him face to face.

The fact that he sounded so kind and gentle only made her even more scared of embarrassing herself than she normally was.

Then there was what her dad had told her, that Shirou was going to be cooking tonight since one of the two he was living with had high standards for meals… that was another thing that made her nervous, what would the people coming with her cousin be like?

And on top of that, it was only a few more days until her other cousin would be arriving and staying the year because his parents were going abroad to help set up a new branch for the company they worked for… which is why he was simply going to be staying with them instead of going with them (her dad had said Yū didn't know the language the schools used and wouldn't be able to learn anything if he did transfer with his parents).

So she was going to be forced to meet other family members for the first time in her life and it was terrifying.

"I still can't believe you bought this much for one meal," her father's voice echoed through the house as she heard the door open, "Nanako, we're here."

"Sorry Dojima-san but you've never seen Saber eat," that voice and the way it conveyed  amusement, apologies and even a slight hint of exasperation was immediately recognisable by the young girl as she suddenly found herself shrinking down in her seat and watching her father and an unfamiliar boy with red hair enter the room with six grocery bags from Junes.

"You keep saying that but I find it hard to believe such a small woman could eat _this_ much," she found herself wondering why her father seemed so annoyed and the red haired boy seemed apologetic.

"You'll understand when you see her eat first hand," the red head said with a grimace before looking at the young girl, "hello there, you must be Nanako-chan."

Nanako simply found herself frozen in place at the young man's smile, the warmth that seemed to radiate from it was beautiful but at the same time… there was something under it, something that didn't seem quite… _right_.

"Are you already terrifying your cousin Emiya-kun?" her attention was soon drawn to another person that had just left the entrance hall, a young woman with dark hair tied into pigtails and a slender frame that was currently hidden by a red turtleneck shirt with a large cross adorning the chest while her legs were hidden by a combination of thigh length black socks and a matching skirt.

However it was the _other_ person that really caught her attention.

While the dark haired girl was very pretty, probably one of the prettiest people she knew in fact, the blonde haired woman was on another level.  While the one in red looked like she could become a model, the girl in blue looked like a princess straight out of a fairy tale, with her almost glistening blonde hair, her warm green eyes, her skin that was so fine it almost looked like porcelain… and with that sight before her, she couldn't do anything to stop her mouth from opening.

"Pretty…" it was the only word that could find its way out of her and the instant she realised she had actually said it, she looked at the floor as she felt her face heat up like a furnace.

"Heh, looks like you've already got a fan Saber," she found her face heating up even more as she heard her cousin make that claim… then her mind focused on the fact that she was embarrassing herself even more than she thought she would in front of her cousin.

"S-Shirou!" and with that, a voice that she'd never heard before called out the name of her cousin, making her squint up to look at the fairy tale woman now going red in the face and looking at the red haired boy like he was betraying her.

"Hah, come on Nanako, don't be like that," any further teasing of the blonde haired woman was cut short as the middle aged detective decided it was a good time to interrupt and divert attention back to the youngest in the house.

At her father's words, the young girl simply found herself shrinking even further back… she didn't understand why he was trying to get her involved, they were all adults and she was just a little girl, surely they would prefer to speak with each other wouldn't they?

Her thoughts were cut short as the girl in blue appeared in the edge of her vision, sat down next to her and placed a hand on her head.

"Hello little one, my name is Saber, what is yours?" her previously indignant voice had changed to a far softer tone and penetrated the young girls defences, causing her to sag slightly at the woman's touch.

"… Nanako," she said after a few seconds of sitting in silence, her blush growing more at the older woman's attention.

"That is a beautiful name for a beautiful young lady," the voice was soft yet regal, kind but with a hint of something more behind it… and Nanako couldn't stop herself from looking up and at all the people present in the room.

Shirou (for who else could he be) was standing there with that warm smile on his face, while her father looked on with soft eyes at her and the blonde woman… and was that Tohsaka girl smirking?

"It looks like you're pretty good with children Saber..." the smirk died after she said that and it took Nanako looking at the princess (Nanako had no doubt that was what the woman was) to realise why.

She looked so sad right now.

"I have made far too many mistakes because of my position… I do not wish to repeat them," the words were said in a tone that matched her face and left the youngest Dojima to wonder what happened.

"What happened?" her question was one of childish innocence but the grimace that adorned the blondes face at it was clear to all.

"I'm sorry Nanako-chan… it is not something I wish to talk about," she looked apologetic as she made that statement, though apparently that made her father decide to pipe in himself.

"You know, sometimes it's better to talk about things like that instead of letting them fester," the words that came from the man were clearly meant as a bit of advice to help the blonde but the frown that appeared on her face when he said that was rather telling.

"I have indeed heard that advice and have spoken to Shirou and Rin about it… but I would rather not speak to anyone else about my past," her words were said with a level of sternness that completely changed her demeanour… instead of giving off the impression of a fairy tale princess, she now felt like a military general from one of those odd films she had seen when skipping through channels.

"Ah… sorry for bringing it up then," Nanako found it weird just how off put her father seemed at that declaration, "anyway, there is something I am curious about… is Saber your given name or family name?"

"It is the name I go by now," the wording that Saber used made Nanako wonder why she decided to say it like that, "I have given up my birth names."

The youngest in the house didn't understand what she meant by that, but judging from the way her father cringed, it probably wasn't good.

"Sorry, I guess that's one of those things you don't want to talk about right?" the firm nod that he received in response to his question made it clear that she did not want to talk about it any further.

"Well… I'll just get started on cooking dinner, is there anything you want Nanako-chan?" Shirou asked her with his usual air of kindness.  Honestly she never really cared about what she had to eat, since it was only her and her dad living at the house and he was always coming home late, she usually had to make do with instant meals, so she simply shook her head in the negative.

"Do not worry little one," Saber's voice cut through to her once again, "Shirou is an expert in the art of meal preparation."

Was it just her, or did Saber seem really happy when she said that?

 

XXX XXX XXX

 

Dojima Ryotaro couldn't believe his eyes as he looked at the table.

Or more precisely, all the empty dishes that littered the small surface.

"I… wha… how?" he couldn’t form coherent sentences due to the sheer surrealism of the situation.

One little woman who looked to be no older than seventeen years old had just eaten a week's worth of food in _one sitting_.

Sure that one sitting included what was probably on par with Michelin star restaurants but the fact remained that even if the food was very good… the girl had eaten far more than her physique should allow.

"I told you you hadn't seen Saber eat," the way Shirou made that statement so bluntly and calmly made him finally realise one simple fact… Shirou had not been exaggerating when he mentioned how much his blonde haired girlfriend ate.

He now felt like a complete fool for not trusting the red head.

"Saber-oneechan eats a lot," he was brought out of his shocked state by his daughter's observation.  Honestly the start of the night had been awkward, what with how Nanako didn't know how to react to the three visitors but after a while, things had started to get easier and the young girl had started to open up to her cousin and his two lovers.

He had also found it rather amusing to hear Shirou telling her to not listen to Tohsaka's advice because 'she is a bad influence'.

She didn't seem too happy about that.

"So, are you looking forward to joining a new school?" he decided to ask the simplest question he could given the situation.

"Well, it'll be different, though I do wonder if they'll need help with anything," the young man said simply, earning an exasperated sigh off the Tohsaka girl.

"Emiya-kun, you're here to spend some time with your family… not earn yourself the nickname 'fake janitor' at a second school," Dojima found himself grinning wryly at the sheepish look the young man sent her way, something that pretty much told him that the boy had a tendency to earn nicknames like that.

"Well… I guess you're right… but I do have to at least work while I'm here," the glare the young woman sent his way at that declaration was enough to let him know that there was some sort of argument about to happen.

"Emiya-kun… you don't have to work, I have enough money to support us both for at least another couple of years, so take some time and enjoy your youth for once in a while," she did not sound particularly happy and he believed he understood why.

Shirou really didn't seem like the sort to put much consideration into his own personal life, which made him wonder just how the boy had ended up with two girlfriends like he had before he shook his head clear of that… it wouldn't do for him to push his nephew away by prying into his personal life.

"Tohsaka… I've seen what that bas… I mean, Kotomine did to your accounts, I'll work," the conviction in his tone was clear but that wasn't what caught the detectives attention.

"Who's Kotomine and what do you mean by 'did to your accounts'?" the question was simple and gained a cringe from all the members of the trio.

"He was my legal guardian for the past ten years… during which he gave away my family's fortune and businesses," she said through gritted teeth.

"Is that so… tell me, do you know the wording of whatever will gave him control of your estate?" the old detective asked, after all, depending on the wording, then it was possible to regain what was given away, "because depending on that, it may be possible to regain what he gave away and put him in prison for a few years."

To his surprise, the dark haired girl simply took on a dark look before making a statement, "you'll never get him in a prison now."

"And what makes you so sure of that?" he wanted to know why she felt the idea of arresting this person was so implausible.

"Because he was murdered a couple of months ago," his mind froze at that statement.  She just said he was murdered but seemed angry at that fact… unless.

"You wanted to kill him yourself didn't you?" he asked, knowing that look from the odd time he'd had to deal with something serious in Okina.

"No… I didn't want to kill him… death was too kind a fate for something like that monster," he found himself shivering at her tone and glanced at Nanako.

Dammit… why did his daughter have to be here for this, while he didn't think she understood what was being said, it was clear she was picking up on the emotions rolling off Tohsaka like waves.

"Is squandering your inheritance really something to get so upset over?" he really didn't understand why she would get so angry over something like that, sure it sounded like it was a lot of money but money was something that could be rebuilt with enough time and effort.

"He planned on murdering me," he felt himself grimacing at that statement, "and before I saw him die at the hands of someone he pissed off earlier… he admitted that he was the one that murdered by father."

Dojima felt his blood freeze over at that statement, to think she had been raised by the very person that killed her father, though he did wonder why he didn't just kill her instead of raise her.

"And then, he framed my mother's childhood friend for that murder… which resulted in her dying of insanity but do you want to know the best part?  The real kicker?" the sheer venom that was contained in her voice was enough to let him know that her hatred of the man wasn't some childish grudge but outright loathing, "he didn't do it for money, jealousy, vengeance or hatred… he did it because he found it amusing."

The detective found himself lowering his gaze at that.  With what she had just said it was clear that the man had been unhinged and he could now fully understand her desire that the man suffered for his crimes… if there was one thing he was exceptionally good at, it was identifying a liar and Tohsaka was definitely not lying when she made that speech.

"I see… I'll admit that I don't know how you feel but I can help you try and undo whatever damage he caused to your finances… even if I doubt it'll be easy or even fully salvageable," he decided that instead of trying to offer her support, he would offer her assistance.

After all, with the way Shirou and Saber were now sat next to the girl and comforting her… he doubted any of them needed him for emotional support.


	4. Chapter 4

Shirou had to let out a sigh as he walked through Junes.

Tohsaka had forbidden him from working during their stay in Inaba.

Which meant he would have to find something to do instead.

He certainly could spar with Saber but that tended to be rather draining for Rin and they really couldn't risk the tiny magus running out of prana, after all, if she and Saber both ran out… Saber would vanish.

He shook his head at that thought, they wouldn't risk it.

So he would have to find some other method of spending his time…

Oh…

She planned this on purpose didn't she?

Without any real work to get done and their training hampered by Rin and Saber's lack of prana, he would be forced into doing one of three things.

Join a club, work on his reality marble…

Or go on dates with them.

He would've felt annoyed at that if he wasn't so happy at the thought that he might very well go on another date with Rin and Saber.

Because thinking back on it, they had only ever actually been on a single date before they moved to Inaba… and that was back during the Grail War.

Most of the time, he was either working, training or helping out around the school, so whenever they did get together, it was mainly just a matter of having a meal or sleeping together.

To actually get some quality time together would be a new and most probably, a rather enjoyable experience.

Even if Rin started acting embarrassed again.

Seriously, why was she always so violent whenever she make a mistake? It wasn't like he laughed at her but she seemed to like blaming him for it.

… oh well, it wasn't like he hated it, it was one of those things that made Rin Rin and not someone that was like Rin but not Rin…

He shook his head clear of those thoughts, he would just let everything work out and that was that.

"Alright... now where is the reduced section," he muttered to himself as he turned his head to look for the little stickers that marked something as being of reduced price.

Even if Dojima-san was going to go over Rin's finances and her father's will to see if there was anything that could be done, he wasn't going to waste money carelessly.

"It's over by the meat counter," one of the assistants said from their place near the vegetables, "just on your left."

He noted that the boy was young, probably still in school if his estimate was right and that thought made him sigh in defeat... if Rin wasn't forbidding him from working, he could very well have been one of the people helping customers with their shopping.

"S-sorry, I didn't mean to upset you," the clerk said almost desperately and Shirou cringed at the fact that the other person had misunderstood the reason behind his sigh.

"Ah, sorry, I was thinking of something else," he said in a placating tone as he rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, "and thank you for the help."

And with that, he found the other teen relaxing.

"Really? What were you thinking about?" the boy asked, curiosity dripping from his voice.

"That my girlfriend has forbidden me from working," he admitted with a sigh.

"What?" the other boy sounded confused, "did you just say you're girlfriend has forbidden you from working?"

The other teen sounded disbelieving but Shirou simply sighed and gave of a nod of confirmation.

"Dude, that is awesome!" the other boy definitely seemed to think it was a good thing, then again, Shirou was always the strange one in school, "you mean you don't have to work at all? Man, I wish I was as lucky as you."

"I like working," that seemed to make the other boy freeze before he started gawking at him.

"You  _like_  working?" it seemed that the other boy couldn't believe it, then again, from what he knew of typical teenagers, he was a bit of an oddball.

"Yeah," he admitted easily, "I guess I just like being self-sufficient instead of living off hand outs."

"Okay… bad parents?" he simply smiled at that statement.

"Orphan," immediately the other boy seemed to grow extremely uncomfortable, "my biological parents died about ten years ago and my adopted father a few years after that."

"…Sorry," he simply blinked at that apology from the member of staff, "anyway, I've got to get back to work, my dad will have my ass if I slack off any more."

"Ah, sorry about wasting your time then," and with that, he turned and headed towards the reduced section.

"It's fine," the other teen said as he started filling the shelves.

Shirou simply hunted down the reduced products and smiled at what he found.

XXX Mysteries Beyond The Fog XXX

"So… going over everything here, I would say that you are legally entitled to claim back most of what your guardian gave away," Dojima said as he sat at the table while Shirou was cooking dinner. He had been going over the contracts and statements for Rin's estate for the past several hours, he had even had a friend with more legal knowledge than him have a quick look at everything.

And it didn't take a genius to figure out that Kotomine Kirei had been acting outside of his authority.

"And what about practically?" he had to flinch at that question, he already knew she was sharp but this just further cemented that fact.

"Practically… getting a lawyer good enough to deal with all the legal teams you would be forced to deal with will be hell," he admitted seriously, causing her to sigh.

"Just how good are we talking about here?" she asked and he decided to give her his honest opinion.

"Honestly, to get through all the legal teams that will be trying to block your every move… there is only one lawyer I know of that could potentially help you," he hated admitting that but he wasn't going to deny that man's skill.

"His name is Sakahagi Futomimi… but getting him to work for you is not going to be easy… if possible at all," he knew the man, he had managed to get several Yakuza thugs off jail time due to his talent and charisma in the docks, the worst part was that those thugs were considered by many to be a guaranteed guilty verdict.

He hated the thought of asking that man for help, especially knowing how the man only did work for the Yakuza.

"Well, can I at least try to convince him to help my case?" he really didn't want to give her hope only for it to be crushed but he could tell from the way she acted that she wouldn't be so fragile when the man turned her down.

"…Alright, I'll get him on the phone… just don't say I didn't warn you when he says no," and with that, he went to the phone and pulled it free of the base and prepared the line, putting the receiver on speakerphone before taking in the ringing.

The line rung for several seconds before a voice that grated on his nerves spoke up.

"Ah, Dojima-san, to what pleasure do I owe this call?" the man definitely sounded amused, though he would probably sound perfectly normal to most people, Dojima simply hated the man for perverting the course of justice.

"I have someone here who could do with your expertise," he admitted before motioning for Rin to take over from him.

"Hello, Sakahagi-san, my name is Tohsaka Rin," she said in a no nonsense tone, Dojima for his part was simply happy Nanako was busy helping Shirou in the kitchen… even if the boy was the one teaching her about actually cooking… wait? Why was Shirou coming over now? "I recently discovered that my legal guardian for the past ten years had been ruining my estate illegally… I was hoping you could assist me in reclaiming what he gave away."

"I'm sorry, but I don't help people without the appropriate… connections," the way the man made that claim simply made him grit his teeth in anger.

And then Shirou spoke up.

"Would I count as an appropriate connection Sakahagi-san," he couldn't stop himself from frowning at that question, of course he wouldn't be…

"Shirou-kun?" he froze, how the hell did his greatest enemy know his nephew, "what are you doing there?"

"Ah, Dojima-san is my uncle and Rin is…" he seemed hesitant to make the explanation however he failed to say anything before the man on the other end cut him off.

"Oh? Has little Shirou gotten a girlfriend at last?" the tone was far more teasing than he had ever heard the man use before and he began to wonder just what sort of relationship the two possessed.

"Yes…" and with that the man on the other end seemed to chuckle a bit.

"So, Tohsaka-san, you are with Shirou-kun?" the confirmation from the girl seemed to be all the man needed, "in that case, I will take on your case."

"Wait? What do you mean you'll take on her case?" Dojima couldn't believe it, his greatest enemy was going to help his nephews girlfriend  _because_  she knew Shirou?

"I will look at her case and help her… don't get me wrong, I won't be doing it for free but I will take on the case," that was perfectly understandable but even then, the man didn't usually take non Yakuza jobs… unless… did Shirou have a connection to a Yakuza?

"Why? What is your relationship with Shirou?" he was definitely worried now.

"He is the neighbour of one of my regular clients… and one of the best damn mechanics I've ever met, he's saved me and my client a small fortune fixing our cars and bikes," he found himself freezing at that explanation. Shirou lived next to a Yakuza member? And had fixed their vehicles?

"So, are you going to come to Inaba or do I have to post the documents to you?" Rin asked the man, clearly more concerned with the outcome that could occur than the fact that Shirou lived so close to a Yakuza member… oh… his mind focused on something that hadn't really made itself clear until then.

"If you could email me copies of them then I should be capable of going over the, just don't make any alterations or we could have some issues," the man stated calmly… and then Rin looked at Shirou with an almost panicked expression on her face.

"Ah, we don't have a computer," the red head admitted, causing a sigh to escape the man on the other end of the phone.

"Then get Dojima-san to do it, I know he has the required equipment at work," Sakahagi said with a sigh.

"I'll make sure I do," and with that statement, Dojima found himself hanging up the phone and was about to ask something before he was cut off by Rin.

"Emiya-kun… what's email?" he found himself nearly choking at that question, he  _never_  expected to see a teenager that didn't use email… let alone not even know what it was.

"Long distance, instant letter delivery done through computers and wires," that was definitely a strange explanation of what email was.

"Uh… I guess it's not something we'll ever bother with is it?" now that made the detective raise an eyebrow.

"Probably not," and with that he began to wonder… were the two technophobes?

"Shirou-nii, is the food ready now?" and with that the redhead was quickly heading towards the kitchen to check on the meal he was preparing.

And so he let out a sigh before looking at one of the quietest people he had ever met.

Saber was a strange one, that much was for certain. She rarely spoke unless spoken to first and she seemed to hold herself to a higher standard than everyone else, that combined with the regal air she had about her and he was pretty sure she was from a royal family of some kind.

Which begged the question of why she was in a relationship with a boy that had another girlfriend.

He quickly shoved those thoughts out of his head, he never understood women and trying to get into the head of someone like Saber was just asking for a migraine.

"So, Rin… this 'private investigator' you hired," he started, "I take it they were Yakuza."

The sigh he got in response was clear.

"Well, when you have them so close by, is it really a surprise I would ask for their help collecting information?" that just confirmed it, his nephew and at least one of the girls he was seeing had some involvement with criminal activity.

"How deeply are you involved with them?" he needed to know just how serious the situation was after all.

"When I appealed to the head for help finding out about you was the first time I had ever come into contact with anyone outside of the heads granddaughter," that didn't sound quite so bad but he still needed to know.

"And how did you meet the heads granddaughter?" he was definitely concerned about such a thing, after all, getting involved young was not good for the child.

"… She's my English teacher," he stalled at that.

The granddaughter of a Yakuza boss was an English teacher?

"She's also Shirou's legal guardian," if he had been drinking anything at the time then he probably would've spat it out at that revelation, a Yakuza boss's granddaughter, who was also an English teacher, was his nephews legal guardian?

He was definitely beginning to get a migraine over everything that had happened over the past couple of days.

"And do you know how deep Shirou's involved with them?" he asked before hearing the boy himself speak up as he brought the meal to the table.

"I just fix their cars, bikes and occasionally go with gramps to golf or wrestling," gramps? Did his nephew just call a Yakuza boss 'gramps'?

And with that Dojima found himself wondering what he had done to deserve being put in this situation.

He felt the urge to interrogate the boy, to try and find out everything he could about the Yakuza he lived next door to, but in the end, he squashed that desire… he didn't want to believe that his nephew was involved in the illegal operations of a criminal syndicate… simply knowing the boy had any contact with them at all was bad enough.

So he bit down on his desire to know more about any dealings he may know of and simply let himself eat the meal that was now set before him… it had been  _far_  too long since he had eaten food anywhere near as good as what he was getting now.

XXX Mysteries Beyond The Fog XXX

The week passed by quickly for Shirou as he, Rin and Saber continued getting set up, with the house eventually getting hooked up the electricity grid after which they managed to get a boiler installed, meaning they no longer had to either start a fire and wait for the water to heat up, or go over to Dojima's house to use his bath.

That they dished out on a new kitchen as well was something Shirou was happy with, after all, he now had a kitchen easily five to ten times larger than his one back in Fuyuki and… well, given how much he loved cooking, it was perfect.

In the end though, he knew they would eventually have to finish up for the week and finally go to school.

And then there was Nanako's other cousin coming over later that day, just one day before school started. Shirou knew he was going to meet the boy eventually but for his first couple of nights, he decided it would be best to give him some room to settle in.

It certainly didn't change the fact that they were going to be starting their last year of high school the next day.

And Rin was definitely making sure their uniforms fitted properly.

"Hmm…" she hummed thoughtfully as she looked at herself in a full body mirror, taking in all the features of the uniform and how well it fit her figure.

Shirou knew she was trying to attain the closest image she could to perfection for her first day at their new school, she was most likely going to use her 'school idol' act again after all… though this time she would definitely not be considered the untouchable queen of the school, not when they had no intention of hiding their relationship.

That had probably been the hardest part of staying at Homurahara for the last part of the year, since they both had certain reputations, they had ended up trying to hide their relationship... albeit with questionable results.

Issei and Mitsuduri had both quickly realised their relationship... Sakura was definitely aware of it despite how much time she spent away but outside of them there were only minor rumours flitting around about the fact that they were seeing each other.

Nobody had managed to catch the fact that they were living together, even with the ever excitable tiger stalking the school but if they had, the rumours would've gotten much worse.

Plus they would've had to have Raiga get involved to make sure there weren't any 'issues' with the faculty... something they had already had the man do for their new school.

Sometimes being in the good graces of a Yakuza boss was incredibly useful.

"Emiya-kun... how does this look?" he just had to smile at that, there really was only one answer he could give for that.

"Weird," and with that response he found her facing him with narrowed eyes, clearly telling him that he had to be careful with whatever he said next, "I've only really seen you in your red top, uniform or pyjamas... so seeing you in something so different is kind of weird."

The sigh he received from the girl said it all.

"I should've known you'd say something like that," she definitely sounded defeated but ended up looking back at him, "but outside of weird, how do I look?"

And with that Shirou analysed every inch of her figure, attempting to pick out any imperfections that could be noticed without intense staring.

"Well, I can't see any imperfections," he admitted, causing her to release a sigh of relief.

"That's good, I want to make a good first impression," she admitted before grinning maliciously, "now... why don't you put on your own uniform."

Shirou found himself wondering what her smile was about and in a fit of paranoia that wasn't necessarily a bad thing around the little magus, he analysed his new school uniform for anything magecraft related.

He didn't find anything.

And so he decided to put it on knowing that whatever Rin had planned, he would be falling for it willingly.

"Hmm..." the humming the dark haired girl made upon seeing him wearing the uniform was... unsettling but not unwelcome, "well... I have to say that your new uniform looks better on you than your old one."

He noted how she was hiding her mouth with her hand as she said that and how her eyes seemed to fixate on him and finally understood why she had wanted him to wear it.

"Tohsaka... stop being a pervert," uniforms were for school, not foreplay.

Then he noted the way her eye was twitching and realised just how stupid his statement had been.

"I mean, these are for school," he tried to defend himself before letting out a sigh upon seeing her just twitch more, "just let me get out of this so you don't put holes in it."

And with that he prepared to receive his punishment for being an idiot.

XXX Mysteries Beyond The Fog XXX

Narukami Yū couldn't stop himself from letting out a sigh as he stepped off the train at Yasoinaba.

This was the fifth time he had transferred schools in as many years. Honestly it was just plain annoying when he failed to so much as make friends because he was always late to getting into the pre-established social circles that always existed at his old schools.

He was fully expecting to simply repeat all the previous years he had done, simply sitting around with little to do.

The fact that he was seventeen years old and had never dated yet because of constantly moving schools only strained his relationship with his parents even further towards breaking point.

And it wasn't even like they were ever there for him to confide in or help him if he ever needed anything.

Sometimes he felt like an orphan, always waiting for someone to show up and take him away from his loneliness... the difference was that he didn't have a chance of being adopted, he was stuck with people who were never there for him.

At least he had finally gotten off that damned train... the only interesting thing that had happened the whole ride was that strange dream with the man with a big nose and the woman with grey hair.

"Hey over here," he immediately turned to look at the person that had called out to him and started walking towards him.

He was a middle aged man with messy black hair and stubble dressing his chin. He was also wearing grey shirt with a red tie, as well as black pants and had a matching jacket slung over his shoulder.

The fact that there was also a little girl wearing a pink sweater and black skirt hiding behind him wasn't particularly important at that moment.

"Well, you're more handsome in person than in your photo," the man said with a jovial smile, "welcome to Inaba, I'm Ryotaro Dojima, your mothers younger brother... I guess I'll be looking after you while you're here."

Ah, so this man was his Uncle Ryotaro, he'd heard about him off his mother but couldn't recall ever seeing him before.

"It's nice to meet you," he responded with a smile, earning a small laugh off the man.

"Heh, you probably don't remember, but we've met," he began to strain his memory at that statement before hearing the man continue his statement, "I've changed your diapers before, you know."

Ah, so that explained it.

With that out of the way the man brought the little girl to a more visible position before continuing with his explanations.

"This here's my daughter, come on Nanako, introduce yourself to your cousin," the man said with his jovial tone still in place.

"H-hello," the little girl said with a small blush on her face, "m-my name is Nanako."

"it's nice to meet you Nanako-chan," he decided to respond with a smile as he realised the little girl would most likely be someone he could get to know for a change.

"Heh, well then, let's get going," the oldest of the three said with his smile still in place, "my car's over there."

And with that the man and his daughter started walking off, with him quickly following up the rear, passing a girl that seemed rather unfriendly.

"Hey," he stalled upon hearing her speak up, turning to see her bend down to pick up a piece of paper, "you dropped this."

"Thank you," he retracted that previous opinion, while she may have looked unfriendly, she probably wasn't a bad person.

"Whatever, all I did was pick it up," she responded as she handed him the piece of paper... a note he had made for himself with his uncles address on it.

And with that the girl started walking away.

"What's wrong?" looked like Uncle Dojima was wondering what was holding him up.

"Nothing," and with that, he continued on his path to the car.

The drive itself was pretty quiet and Yū found himself nearly nodding off again since neither his uncle or cousin were really talking.

"Dad... I need the bathroom," he found himself smiling slightly at that, trust a little girl to need to go to the toilet during a car ride.

"Well, I need to get some fuel anyway so we can stop at the gas station," Yū for his part didn't say anything, he was too tired after such a long journey and didn't feel up to making small talk.

"So... are you looking forward to starting a new school?" the grey haired teen couldn't stop the sigh from escaping his lips and it was clear the older man noticed, "look... I know it must be difficult for you but if you ever need anything, Shirou and Rin will probably be able to help you while you're there."

"Who?" he had to admit, he had never heard those names before.

"My other nephew and his girlfriend, they recently moved here to get closer to me and Nanako," that immediately made him frown,  _they_  had recently moved... did that mean they were living together? "you'll probably meet them soon, they decided to give you a couple of days to get used to everything before they meet you."

Yū simply kept his silence as the car came to a halt at a Moel gas station and exited the car.

"Nanako, can you go to the toilet by yourself?" the oldest of the group asked, earning a nod of confirmation from the little girl as an attendant rushed over.

"It's in the back on your left, you know way left is? It's the side you don't hold your chopsticks in," the attendant said cheerily and Yū found himself once again zoning out.

"I know... geez," and with that the little girl ran off.

"Are you taking a trip?" the attendant asked easily.

"No, we just went to pick him up, he just moved here from the big city," Dojima admitted just as easily and the attendant seemed to take note of that.

"The city huh?"

"Fill up my car while you're at it, regulars fine," and with the attendants chirpy reply, the oldest man muttered a single sentence before leaving, "good a time as any for a smoke."

"Are you in high school?" Yū found himself the centre of the attendants attention, "does it surprise a city boy to see how little there is out here? There's so little to do I'm sure you'll get bored fast, you'll either be hanging out with your friends or doing part-time jobs... speaking of which, we're actually looking for part-time help right now."

And after taking a few steps towards him the overly friendly attendant continued their spiel, "give it some thought why don't you? We don't mind if you're a student."

And with that, the stranger held out a hand and he gave it a quick shake, "oh, I should be getting back to work."

And then Nanako returned and he found himself feeling dizzy.

"Are you okay?" the little girl asked, "did you get carsick? You don't look too good..."

He quickly came to the conclusion that spending nearly eight hours on a train and in a car was not a good way to spend the day.

And then Dojima returned and immediately noted his condition.

"What's wrong? You okay?" the man asked sympathetically.

"I'm just tired," he admitted as he felt the effects of the trip once again pour into his being.

"That's understandable, it must have been a long trip for you," the oldest of the group said calmly, "why not take a little walk, get some fresh air? Just let me know when you're ready to go."

"It's fine," he just wanted to get into the place that would be his temporary home for the next year so he could get a decent rest.

"Alright then, let's go," and with that they returned to the car and made their way to the house he would be staying.

XXX Mysteries Beyond The Fog XXX

Yū had to admit, the house was a rather simple one but at the same time it wasn't the type of house he usually got to see given how often he was moving to new cities.

It was a simple two story detached house, nothing special but given how he was usually living in apartment blocks, it was a rare sight for him.

The house clearly had a decent sized sitting room with an open plan kitchen that was only separated from the sitting room by a dinner table with plenty of clutter littering it.

He found himself frowning slightly at that… he liked cooking and had been hoping to get a decent space with which to work with but it looked like he was going to have to make do with what he had.

So he soon found himself seated at the small table in front of the Television with a tray of prepacked sushi in front of him and a can of soda in his hand.

"All right, let's have a toast," his uncle said calmly before they raised their drinks and had a gulp of their respective liquids.

"So... your mom and dad are busy as always... they're working oversees now aren't they?" the man asked, so he gave him a nod of confirmation, "I know it's only for a year but getting stuck in a place like this because of your parents... it's rough being a kid."

He wouldn't say it out loud, but he was more than happy to be in a rural town, it beat being transferred to some massive school with a ludicrous commute or having to learn a whole new language before he could work on the same things his classmates were.

"Well, as long as you're here, you're a part of the family, so make yourself at home," he felt himself internally sighing at that... not in a negative way but in relief that his uncle was clearly an easy going guy that wasn't going to make him do too much.

"Thank you for your kindness," he decided to respond, it was only the polite thing to do after all.

"C'mon, there's no need to be so formal," and with that the man gave a glance at his daughter, "look, you're making Nanako all tense."

And then the girl looked down in embarrassment at being singled out.

"Well, anyway, let's eat," and with that, they started to dig into their plates, "I know it's not much but when Shirou and his girlfriends come over next time, you'll get something a lot better."

And then the man's phone rang and he pulled it out with a complaint about the hour.

"Dojima speaking," the dark haired man answered calmly before listening for a while, "yeah, I see... So where is it?... all right, I'm on my way."

He wondered what was going on when the man turned towards the table.

"Sorry, but I gotta go take care of some business, go ahead and eat without me," and with that the little girl stood up, "I don't know how late I'll be, Nanako, you help him out okay?"

"Okay," and with that the man proceeded to leave the house with one last call about the weather and laundry, which Nanako responded by mentioning that she had already brought the laundry in.

After that, the little girl almost immediately turned on the TV before going back to her food.

"So... what does your dad do?" he decided to ask, wondering if the girl could tell him anything that might explain his sudden disappearance.

"He investigates stuff. Like crime scenes," she admitted before stating it simply, "my dad's a detective."

And then the television changed to the local news, which he noted was just some scandal about a politician cheating on his wife with a reporter.

"This is boring," Nanako said after a little while and Yū had to admit, he agreed with her.

So when she changed the channel, he wasn't even remotely bothered.

And then there was immediately an advert for the supermarket chain Junes.

"Every day's great at your Junes!" clearly his cousin was a fan of the jingle, one that he honestly didn't think was that impressive, before she turned to him and asked a simple question, "aren't you going to eat?"

And with that, he immediately started to devour his dinner out of embarrassment.

As soon as he had finished his meal, he simply decided to do one single thing that made sense to him.

"Goodnight," and with that single word, he went upstairs, ready to recover from the long trip.

XXX Mysteries Beyond The Fog XXX

Shirou quietly wondered how his cousins other cousin was doing.

From what he had heard, the other boy had an even longer trip there than he, Rin and Saber had... though unlike them, he had all his stuff sent ahead before him so he would've had room to stretch his legs.

But an eight hour train trip was still exhausting.

That was one of the reasons he was planning on giving the other boy a few days to recover instead of introducing himself straight away, that would probably have simply made things even harder for him to adjust to life in a small town.

At least he, Rin and Saber were used to the quiet residential district of Fuyuki, the other boy may very well not have that sort of experience to fall back on.

"Emiya-kun, are you ready for bed?" he found himself getting pulled out of his musings by Rin asking him a strange question given the time.

They usually stayed up for at least a couple more hours... longer if they had something they had to do.

"What's wrong Tohsaka?" he found himself asking, earning a blank stare off the girl who was currently half undressed.

"Saber's allowed back in bed," she stated bluntly, "you have a week to make up for."

"Rin!" he almost laughed at Saber's cry of embarrassment from within the bedroom.

"Alright, just let me get ready," well, it would be nice to wake up to the warmth of two bodies pressed against him again.

And on the first morning at his new school as well.

He guessed the only thing he could really say about the situation was simple...

Life was good.

**Author's Note:**

> And that is all for now.  
> Shadow Out.


End file.
